


Fire and Steel

by zainabmnsr



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Angst, Enemies to Lovers, Light descriptions of violence, M/M, Mafia AU, mentions of minor charector death - Freeform, so much angst oh my god
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-28 16:02:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 25,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13907472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zainabmnsr/pseuds/zainabmnsr
Summary: Felix remembered when he didn’t sleep with a gun under his pillow and a dozen fake passports in his bedside drawer. When he lived in a cramped apartment instead of a large sprawling mansion. Business back then used to be paperwork and arresting petty criminals, but that was all before he fell in love with changbin; the most influential mafia overlord. Now he intercepts drug deals and steals and takes part In public shoot-offs. And goes back home to a warm bed and a dark-haired boy with a smile that cures everything





	1. Chapter 1 - Changbin

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time posting something but i hope you guys like it. Also - warnings for mentions of blood+ violence in the first part of this chapter.

CHANGBIN 

Changbin crouched in the dirty alley. Two boys knelt in front of him, bloodied and eyes averted.

“I warned you what would happen if you acted out.” he said quietly, dangerously.” Did I or did I not?”

The boys stared intently at the ground and Changbin sighed. He stood up and in a flash, his foot connected with the first boys face. He fell on his side, a cry of pain tearing through his mouth. The boy next to him flinched but did not move to help his friend.

Changbin let out a chuckle and glanced at his watch. “I’ll give you 3 hours” the crime overlord said. “If you aren’t out of this country in 3 hours, you won’t leave in one piece. Consider this as an act of mercy after the death of my father.”

And then, he turned around and swept out into the streets, disappearing into the 8 o clock street crowd.

—————————————————————

 

At the death of his father one week prior, Changbin did not just inherit a large and feared crime syndicate, but also the bulk of his father’s jobs and responsibilities. He walked through the long hallway leading to the meeting room. Through the open doors, he saw the wisps of smoke spreading through the air and the tough looking men he was supposed to meet. The men stopped talking when he entered.

“What news” he asked, his scrape of his footsteps on the marble floors filling the room. He didn’t let their silence unnerve him - it wasn’t him they respected. It was his money and reputation. At 26, he was known across the streets, not just as his father’s son but also for his own independent projects and jobs and his ruthlessness in carrying them out.

The one closest to him spoke first, “we were supposed to receive a shipment of drugs from Han jisung and his crew two days ago but it hasn’t reached us”

Changbin looked up. “And I’m finding out about this now?”

The man, muscled and tattooed, seemed to shrink under changbins gaze. He dismissed the man with the wave of his hand. “Fix up a meeting with me and jisung sometime this week” he said, looking at receipts for a new plot of land. “What else”

“The police department found out about the leak we had among them.” Another man said, leaning forward in his chair. “They interrogated him for a couple of hours before we found out. He didn’t know enough to do any real damage but he gave them all our regular meet up spots”

“Has the problem been taken care of ?”, Changbin asked, 

“He’s dead now.” the man replied and Changbin gave him a nod of approval.

“The police department is transferring an officer from Jeju to fill in the leaks position” the same man continued after a drag of his cigarette. “His name’s Lee Felix. Australian. Around 24 years old.”

“They’re bringing someone from Jeju into Seoul” the man sitting next to his smirked. “Poor guy. He doesn’t know what he’s getting into”

Changbin suppressed a smile at that. “Well deal with him if he becomes a problem.” he said. “Anything else?”

“I have a proposition for a job someone said from the crowd.” The room erupted in jeers and laughter. Changbin looked up to see who had spoken. It was Hyunjin, the newest member of the gang. He was fresh out of the streets, scraped and bare-skinned. But Changbin knew that there was more to the kid than what meets the eye. He raised a hand and the laughter stopped almost instantly.

“Speak,” he said

Hyunjin swallowed, eyes darting around the room, but spoke calmly. “You must have heard of the millennium done that the city’s planning to build. It is going to officially open in a week and its supposed to have many precious jewels and antiques as part of the opening exhibition.”

“And?”

Hyunjin licked his lips. “One of the many things that’s going to be displayed is the millennium star. It’s a jewel worth 203 carats”. someone from the groups whistled but Hyunjin carried on, growing more confident as he spoke. “The jewel is worth 250 million dollars in cash and it would cost us way more if we auctioned it. “

“Isn’t security going to be sky high for that place?” one of the men remarked.

“Aren’t we supposed to be one of the biggest crime associations in Korea” Hyunjin countered. “If we don’t do this, someone else will. We have the men and the firepower. Only a coward would back down “

“How did you find out about this” Changbin asked.

Hyunjin hesitated. “I have sources.”

The room was silent for a second

“Can we trust these sources?” Changbin asked but his unspoken words were apparent. Can we trust you?

Hyunjin looked up, steel and fierce determination in his eyes, “you can trust my sources” he said, “and you should do this job. Before another gang does.”

Heavy silence settled in the room but Hynjin didn’t move, his jaw set in determination.

“Everyone else. Out” Changbin said, “We’ll finish up later.”

In seconds, the room was empty and it was just Changbin and Hyunjin.

Changbin leant back in his chair and motioned to the seat next to him “let’s discuss this job. He said. “What’s your plan?”

—————-


	2. Chapter 2 - Felix

Seoul city was everything Felix dreamt it would be. The city was vibrant and rich with colour and noise and culture. Tall buildings followed him everywhere he went and, at night, the city was a sight to behold.

After living in the countryside in Jeju for 23 years, Felix welcomed the noise and the city, and when the wind blew past him, it almost felt like a gentle embrace from the city to him.

“No matter how long I’ve lived here, the beauty of this city still catches me off guard sometimes.” seungmin, the head officer said when he saw Felix gazing out the window of his new apartment. “Anyway”, he continued, clapping Felix on the back, “that’s the last box you brought with you. Are you sure you don’t need help unpacking?”

“Yeah, don’t worry it” Felix replied, tearing his eyes away from the window. “Thanks for all your help. “

“No problem”. Seungmin put his cap on and smiled at the new officer. “Remember your shift for tomorrow. You can’t slack off just because it’s your first day here” he teased.

“No Sir,” Felix said, giving a mock salute. Seungmin laughed and with a last goodbye and a ‘fighting!’ left to go back to the station.

Felix looked around his new apartment - the walls unbearably white and lifeless, the boxes stacked in every corner.

“Right” he mumbled to himself, “let’s get started”.

———————————–

Felix’s first day of work was not going well.

not only did he wake up late and show up to work with his shirt untucked and his hat on backwards, he was also appointed to the millennium done for rounds which basically involved telling civilians and kids that they weren’t allowed to stand on the compound and stare at it. The dome itself was a magnificent structure, glass-paned across its surface, surrounded by the Thames on one side and a plane of flowers and greenery on the other. The opening wasn’t until a week, and it was expected to be a grand event, especially due to the many precious diamonds that would be exhibited there. The police force would probably have to work overtime on that day.

Just as he was ushering a couple away from the dome, movement caught his eye. There, standing next to the entrance, a man stood. Clad in an expensive looking suit, he stood with his arms behind him, examining the structure. Felix sighed and moved in the man’s direction

“It’s a great structure sir,” he said and the man turned and gave him a strange look. “But I’m afraid I can’t allow you to stand here.”

The man scoffed. “And who would you be?”

“I’m part of the police force sir”, Felix said, showing him his badge.

“Are you now?” the man replied. looking amused. “Well then I’ll make sure to follow the law and move away from here”

Felix stood, expectant, but the man merely turned away from him with a smile on his face

“Sir” Felix began, his temper rising, “you can’t stand here”

“You already said that,” the man said, stopping him midsentence. He turned towards Felix again and a cold breeze swept past both of them. “Question is” he paused, tilting his head to a side,”what are you going to do the stop me”

“Sir” Felix exclaimed after a second of shocked silence and the dark haired man threw his head back and laughed at his reaction. Aah, I’m just kidding. He looked at Felix, an eyebrow raised “wouldn’t want to go against the law now would I?” 

And with that stupid smile still on his face, the man turned and walked away.

“Who is that guy” Felix muttered to a nearby officer who was watching, still staring at the stranger.

“Seo Changbin” the man replied. “He’s one of the big names of the mafia but him and his family have managed to evade the law for years now.”

“Why’s he still walking free then? If we know he’s involved in something shady, should he be locked up?”

“It isn’t that easy. Changbin has money and power on his side and we have no clear proof. All we have is word on the streets but we don’t have enough conducive evidence to take him in. They’ve been careful in covering their trails and leaving nothing behind.”

“Stay away from him” the officer continued after a beat of silence. “Don’t get involved. There’s nothing good that comes from trying to stop that man. He’s ruthless and efficient and never leaves a trail behind.”

He turned away and went over to a family, telling them to leave the site.

Felix stared at Changbin as he took a turn at the corner of the street, into an alley, and after a second, grabbed his jacket and followed him.

The sun was setting, painting the sky in hues of orange and pink.

Changbin didn’t seem to slow down though. The black car he was following cruised through the streets and finally, stopped outside an abandoned warehouse. The wooden structure had tiles missing all over the walls and the roof. There was another car parked outside the warehouse, black and untraceable. Felix ducked into one of the nearby building when the door of the car opened and Changbin stepped out.

He didn’t wait for his companions before he strode into the warehouse, pride and power in his walk. The two people who came with him- a muscled, tattooed man and another black haired boy in a suit- followed shortly.

Felix hesitated. The smart thing to do would be to inform the authorities about this but what if the police force came too late. Felix was here, at the crime scene. Surely it would be better for him to trail the man and find out what would happen.

After another seconds wait, he pushed himself off the wall and shuffled toward the warehouse, hiding beside one of the cars. He was close enough to see and hear what was going on inside the structure.

Changbin and his accomplices stood opposite to another 3 people, the rest of the warehouse abandoned. The light from the setting sun streamed through the planks from above, illuminated parts of the dusty, wrecked place. The man opposite to Changbin stepped forward and patted his companions down, after which Changbin crew did the same for the other group. 

After it was evident there were no weapons, the two companions of either side stood by, while Changbin and the other man spoke.

“Well”, Changbin started “What excuse do you have for us.”

“No excuses,” the man said, looking up at Changbin, “I’ll get it delivered to you in 5 days. But it would be a shame if it doesn’t reach you again. “

“It truly would”, Changbin replied dryly, “but for your people, not ours.”

“I heard your clients are getting restless, a delivery this late would seriously blow a hole through your reputation”

“Don’t worry; I’ll make sure you get hit the worst”

“Your clients won’t come after me, they’ll come after you.”

Changbin sighed, “what is it exactly that you want Jisung”

The other man – Jisung – replied immediately. “We want in. we know that there’s a job you and your lot have your eyes on that’s coming up. And we want in”

Changbin let out a chuckle. “You forget that you aren’t the only suppliers in the market, even if you are the oldest ones. I’ll be happy to switch to someone else.”

But even as Changbin remained unfazed, his companions exchanges nervous glances at each other.

“You don’t have the manpower to carry this job out yourself”, Jisung said, his voice slightly higher than it was before, slightly more panicked.

Changbin turned toward Jisung, a smile on his face. “You know why you’ll never be better than me? It’s because you wear your emotions on your face. I know that you and your gang have been facing a loss for the past couple of year. Word on the streets Sais you’ll do anything to bring up your reputation but I don’t want to believe that you’ll be stupid enough to mess with me in your desperation.” “Truth is,” he said softly “there’s nothing you and your people can offer that we don’t already have”

Silence stretched on between the two groups, Changbin smile never leaving his face. It was the face of a predator before he pounced. The face of someone who knew he had won. He opened his mouth to say something but Jisung interrupted him

“We have blueprints,” he said

Changbin froze, “I know that you have had trouble getting blueprints and guard shifts for the place. I heard that you went to the compound right before coming here. We have a source working with the police, and he gave us everything we need.”

In the silence of the warehouse, Felix’s ragged breaths sounded louder than normal. He placed a hand over his mouth in an attempt to calm himself down but his mind was spinning and his heart was racing and suddenly, his legs felt like jelly. 

“Where exactly are you getting this information about us from?” Changbin asked, tilting his head, smile morphing into a cold, unamused expression

“40 percent”, jisung said, leaving Changbin question unanswered. “All we want is 40 percent of the profit. We’ll give you the blueprint and plans as well as manpower and ammunition if you need.”

“Blueprint, manpower, ammunition and the name of your source from amongst us,” Changbin said, his tone not one that left any room for argument.

A beat of silence. “Agreed,” Jisung said, earning surprised looks from his comrades.

Changbin nodded. “Well get in touch he said and turned to leave.”

Felix turned to move away, perhaps hide inside one of the nearby building, when his foot connected with a Pepsi can, sending it flying. The two groups turned towards him, moving into a defensive stance. They could see him clearly, he knew, so he turned around and ran in the opposite direction, still half in shock from what he had overheard.

“Don’t” he heard changbins voice, no doubt stopping one of his companions that tried to follow him. His voice turned into a vicious snarl. “He’s mine.”

Changbins threat followed him all the way to his house, and even as he lay in bed, going over what he had heard about the lead in the police force and the heist on the dome, Changbin words kept coming back to him.

Felix didn’t sleep well that night and spent half the night on his laptop, finding out all he could about Seo Changbin


	3. Chapter 3 - Changbin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it tooka awhile to upload this. anyway, it was super fun writing this so i hope ya'll enjoy

A loud bang echoed across the emty room.  
“Punching the wall isnt going to do us any good.” changbin said from where he was on his table. Hyungin didnt turn to look at him, the anger evident in his stance as he faced the wall, fists clenched.  
Changbin sighed, “Come sit down.”  
A second passed without either of them moving, but then hyungin walked over and plopped into the seat opposite to Changbin. “So the operations called off then” he asked  
“When did i say that?” Changbin replied and hyungin looked up at him, stunned  
“Lee Felix may have overhead us but he won’t report it to the authorities. And if he does, we'll come to know”. He cast a sideways glance as hyungin. “Ji hoon may have gotten caught but he isn’t the only source we have on the inside”  
“How are you sure he won’t report “  
“Cause he won’t know who to report to. He said simply. Jisung implied that his source is high up in the police ranks. He’ll probably try and stop us himself, the fool” he scoffed.  
“Also, we're going to be working with Han Jisung and his crew now?” Hyungin interrupted “I don’t think they’re reliable”  
“They aren’t” Changbin replied, leaning back on his seat. “But he's desperate which works in our advantage. Besides, we're smarted and more powerful than he is. He may be desperate but he’s not stupid enough to double cross us. Not with our numbers.”  
Morning light streamed in through the open windows and into Changbin office. The two sat in silence for a second before Changbin spoke again.  
“We'll be meeting with him and some of his people today in the evening. Prepare yourself. The man may have lost half of his crime empire but he's clung on this pride. He’s not going to like being told what to do by someone younger than him.”  
Hyungin gave him a curt nod and stood up, straightening his suit. “I'll see you in the evening then”, and walked out of the room after a wave of dismissal from Changbin.  
Changbin turned back to the screen, where Felix's resume lay open. Hacking into police files was far easier than 9it should be.  
Changbin eyes fell on the address bar.  
‘And after the meeting’ Changbin thought, ‘let’s go pay out police officer a visit.’  
\------  
Changbin peered at the blueprints, quietly flipping through the many sheets of plans that jisung brought to the estate with him. Jisung sat across him in his office, a grim faced companion by his side. 

“There’s no way we can pull this off incognito” hyungin mused, peering over his shoulder to see the plans. Changbin nodded, distracted by what he was seeing.According to the plans, the jewel was going to be displayed in such a way that it could be seen from the upper floor as well and from anywhere on its own floor. There were hardly any partitions or walls. Not only that, but there were security cameras everywhere and they also had the police force to worry about 

“I was thinking we could make it a hit and run operation” Jisung said 

Changbin shook his head, eyes still pasted to the plans. “Too risky” he said. “The streets will be packed and we don’t have a secure safe house anywhere close”

“That’s not what i meant”, Jisung said and Changbin looked up at him. “You’re looking at the plans right now” he continued, “there’s a way we can escape. Look properly” 

A beat of silence. “You don’t mean...” hyunjin began 

“The Thames?” Changbin demanded, cutting hyungin off, his face set in disbelief. 

“The police won’t be escaping an escape route via the river.” jisung said a satisfied smile on his face. “I can get some people to keep a speedboat waiting for us” 

 

“That would meant we have to limit the amount of people we're bringing with us” Changbin replied, leaning back in his chair, “but perhaps that would be best.”

 

“We can enter through the staff entrance, disguised as one of the cleaners” jisung said, tracing the path with his finger. “But the problem is stealing the diamond. It’s placed in such a way that it can be seen from everywhere. Plus, that’s where security will be at its highest. It’s the only thing i haven’t figured out yet.”

 

There was a brief spell of silence, interrupted only by Changbin drumming his fingers on the table. Then, hyungin spoke. 

 

“They’ll expect a theft” hyungin said slowly. “They’re expecting someone to come in, guns blazing and steal the diamond, how could they not be expecting it when they know how much its worth. They’ll trust no one but the people on their side.” he grinned, “And we can use that to our advantage. They’ll be expecting robbers, but how about we go in as policemen” 

Changbin laughed and turned to look at hyungin. “You’ve become quite the criminal mastermind” he teased. “This is brilliant. There’s no way we can maintain our cover after we get our hands on the diamond. But this can give us direct access to it” 

“If we're going in as police officers, the cctv will have footage of our faces. We can’t cover them up.” 

“No” Changbin replied “but we can make them unrecognisable. I know a sfx makeup artist who owes me a debt. I think this is the perfect was she can pay me back. She’s skilled enough to make our faces look nothing like our faces.” 

Jisung hesitated, but nodded. “Alright then. It’s a plan. Let’s meet again someday to discuss the rest. Right now,” he looked at his watch, “i have someplace to be” 

“So do I” Changbin said. “We’ll get in touch.” the other man nodded and stood up, his companion following suit and they left the room. 

“I really hope we can pull this off”, hyungin whispered, his confidence leaving him. 

“We will” Changbin said firmly. “We have to.”  
\----------------------------------------------  
It was dark by the time felixs shift ended, and Changbin was standing outside waiting for him when he came home.  
The young officer saw the older man and stumbled, almost falling in surprise. His fingers inched towards the gun on his holster but Changbin clicked his tongue in disapproval, and his hands fell to his side. Changbin felt the corners of his lips tug up and pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on. The cold, night breeze blow past them and Changbin noted with satisfaction when Felix shivered at the breeze.  
“What are you doing here?” Felix demanded his voice slightly higher than usual. He shifted slightly, moving into a defensive stance and Changbin let out a laugh  
“I don’t think you want to fight with me” Changbin said. “I don’t think that would end well for you”  
Felix raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to reply but Changbin cut him off. “Besides he said. I’m not here to fight. I’m here to make sure you don’t happen to mention what you overheard at the police station”  
“Maybe I already have” Felix said, feigning confidence  
“You haven’t.” Changbin replied. He smirked. “I’d know if you have.” Felix seemed to stiffen but forced himself to get the speak  
“Why come here now he asked. And why not kill me. I’ve heard that you aren’t one to take risks. So why did I leave the warehouse alive?”  
“I wanted to see what you’d do next.” Changbin admitted. “I was going to kill you, but then I realised that you wouldn’t tell cause you won’t know who to trust. I might still kill you but I really wanted to see what you would do.”  
“Then why are you here now? If you know I’m not going to report this, why bother coming here?”  
Changbin opened his mouth but was cut off when a familiar voice spoke  
“Well, well. Seo Changbin. What are you doing here at this time of night? In my territory.”  
Changbin turned in time to see Bang Chan step into the light. The man was the most reputed and known in the underground. His gang was the biggest, baddest one in the streets. They were ruthless and smart, making them as successful as Changbin gang, if not more  
“Just passing by” Changbin replied, his face a mask of cool indifference  
“Oh? And who’s this?” Chan said, walking up to him and Felix. Changbin and Felix both noticed the gun Chan was holding at the same time. “A friend perhaps?” Chan continued, looking at Changbin  
“An acquaintance” he replied shortly, tearing his eyes away from the gun to look at the man.  
“A policeman?” Chan asked, “I can’t imagine the state of your gang if these people are your acquaintances,” he raised the gun, and Felix let out a panicked cry when he noticed that it was aimed at him. “We don’t keep this kind of company in our line of business.”  
“If there’s anyone who’s going to kill this man” Changbin said. “It’ll be me. For now I have some use of him.”  
“Then I'll definitely kill him." Chan said, "And then I’ll kill you.” Chan cocked his gun, the loud noise echoing through the streets. Felix let out a whimper, not daring to move an inch.  
“I fear” Changbin said, “that if you try to do that, you’ll be dead before you touch the trigger.” Changbin pointed at Chans chest, where the red light from the sniper on the roof was now aiming. “Did you really think that id stroll into your territory without backup? I’m not stupid.”  
“You say you’re not stupid and yet you threaten me in my own territory.” The man smirked, “you’ve got some guts boy. It’ll be fun to fight someday, your gang versus mine.”  
“We’ll set date” Changbin said, “I’m a bit busy right now.”  
Chan lowered his gun. “Call your people off” he said. “We’ll meet again. I’ll make sure of it.”  
“I’ll look forward to it,” Changbin said with a confident smile. He signalled the gunman and the red light disappeared. Chan nodded at the other man in acknowledgement, shot Felix a smirk and called away, hands in his pockets, whistling a tune.  
“What just happened” Felix breathed as soon as Chan disappeared into an alley. “What just happened?” His breaths were coming out louder now.  
“Meet Bang Chan. If you thought that I was bad, you definitely wouldn’t like him. Chan and his men don’t follow a code. They do what gets them a higher profit, even if it costs them their own members. Think of them as the Korean Yakuza.”  
“I thought you’re the Korean yakuza” Felix replied, staring at the building behind which Chan disappeared.  
“I would have been if it wasn’t for him” Changbin replied.  
Felix shot him a look. “Why do you sound proud saying that??” he cried out in anger. “What is wrong with this goddam city and its goddam people?” He stomped over to the door of his building but Changbin gripped his wrist as he walked past him.  
“I’m not a monster.” Changbin said his voice low and dangerous. “I take money from the rich and exploit those who ask for it. I don’t force people to buy my drugs or enter my gang. They willingly come forward. I’m nothing but a businessman”  
“You kill people for a living!” Felix cried, whirling around to face Changbin. “What businessman does that??”  
“All of them” Changbin replied simply. “They steal from the poor, make millions while others starve. They exploit children and poor people in other countries, underpay their workers and feel no penance.” He paused. “And you and your people protect them. So if I’m a monster, then what does that make you?”  
They were standing close to each other now. Even though Felix was taller than Changbin, the former shrined under the latter’s gaze. They were so close that Changbin could see the loose threads on Felix’s shirt, could see his Adams apple move as he swallowed. “I just saved your life Changbin continued. Aren’t you going to thank me?”  
Felix blinked and then blurted out “no” and took off, running into his building  
Changbin stood outside, stunned for a second, before he let out a laugh. “Silly kid” he muttered, still smiling, and walked away, motioning to the gunman to leave.


	4. Chapter 4 - felix

Chapter 4   
Felix  
“File these and submit them in by the end of the week.” seungmin said, dropping a pile of folders on Felix’s table.   
He suppressed a groan and nodded, already thinking of the long nights ahead. Seungmin leaned against his table, “so how’s seul city so far?”   
“It’s not like I had the time to explore much,” Felix said, slightly bitterly and the chief laughed. “It’s always tough for the new officers” he confessed. “Hang in there. The workload should lessen after the millennium dome officially opens.”   
Seungmin lingered by his table for a second, noticing the way the younger officers movements seemed slow and tired. “You should get some rest” he said finally. “Take tonight off”  
“I can’t”, Felix began, “I have to-“   
“I’ll tell someone else to do it. You’ve been working overtime far too much. I don’t want to see you at the station after 6 tonight.” And with a final smile, seungmin walked away, files tucked under his arm.  
Felix placed his pen on the table and leaned back in his chair, suddenly hit by a wave of exhaustion. He didn’t like the thought of going home early, too his too large house, left alone with his thoughts.   
-  
Felix sat on his bed, head in his arms. The apartment was a mess, the still unpacked boxes piled into the corners of the house. A bottle of empty vodka sat on his bedside table, cold from being left there since the previous night.   
Felix had been having trouble sleeping lately. After his initial enthusiasm, he saw what hadn’t seen before. Seul was still beautiful and a dream come true, but now he noticed the faint stench on Tabaco in the alleys, the smog that wrapped itself around the city in the mornings, and the groups of middle-aged thugs and high school dropouts. Nowadays, when he wasn’t working, he was missing home – where the area was peaceful and his sister's house was just a street away.   
Felix stood up, unable to handle the silence of his apartment, and practically ran out of the house. He stumbled towards the general direction of the police station but ended up standing outside the entrance of a brightly lit bar.   
He hesitated, arm clasping the door handle. Then, he was inside, surrounded by people dancing and talking and making out. The bar smelt like cheap alcohol and tobacco and artificial perfumes and the music was loud enough that he couldn’t hear his thoughts.   
Two drinks later, Felix could feel himself loosen up. He was chatting up a pretty brunette, his third drink in hand.   
“Do you want to dance?” she asked over the music, smiling shyly up at him.   
He grinned at her and grabbed her hand. “Let’s go,” he said, pulling her into the crowd  
And so they danced. Time stopped for the two of them. With each song, they got braver, moving closer to each other.   
Then, Felix’s carefree moment ended. The crowd parted when the music changed, and in one of the booths sat Seo Changbin himself. He was sitting comfortably, arm around a pretty, scantily dressed girl. Standing beside his booth was a muscled man, looking uncomfortable.  
Felix suddenly felt like he couldn’t breathe. He stared at Changbin in shock and fear, unsure of what to do. The older man hadn’t noticed Felix yet. He was talking to the girl, one hand playing with her hair.  
A couple moved in front of Felix, blocking his line of vision for a second. The girl next to him was still dancing wildly, unaware that she was in the same bar as a criminal overlord. When the couple in front of him moved out of the way, Changbin was staring right at him.   
He felt himself squirm under changbins intense gave. He lifted his glass in acknowledgement, giving Felix a half grin. And perhaps it was the alcohol coursing through his veins, but Felix moved closer to the girl, eyes still on Changbin. His eyes followed Felix’s hands as he wrapped them around the girl waist, pulling her closer. Changbin looked back up at him, and Felix shoots him a smile. The girl let out a light giggle, barely audible over the loud music.   
Changbin turned towards the girl next to him and said something that made the girl blush. Felix felt his smile fade as Changbin leaned forward and kissed the girl. The kiss was anything but modest and Felix had to look away in embarrassment.   
When he looked back, he found Changbin looking at him. He caught Felix’s eye and raised an eyebrow, eyes sparkling in amusement. Felix stiffened and felt the sudden urge to stalk over there and arrest both Changbin and the girl. He looked at the girl in front of him and then back at Changbin.   
Slowly, he turned back towards the girl and leaned down, pressing kisses o her neck. The girl gasped beneath him and he felt a sudden spur of satisfaction. His lips still on the girl’s neck, he snuck a glance at the booth. It was empty save for the girl. He pulled away from the girl in surprise.   
“What’s wrong the” girl breathed and he shook his head, still looking at the now empty booth. The girl sat by herself at the edge of her chair, looking unsure about what to do.   
“I need to go. I’m sorry,” he said to the girl and turned away before she could reply, pushing his way through the crowd. He bursts out of the back entrance, the cool wind sobering him slightly.  
“Oh what did I just do??” he muttered to himself, pacing down the narrow alley. His chest felt like it might burst. “I’m never going to drink again,” he vowed to the night sky   
“Somehow,” a voice said from the shadows, “I highly doubt that.”   
Felix jumped turning around to see Changbin standing beside him, unlit cigarette dangling from between his lips. Flex’s eyes widened in surprise and his hand automatically moved to where his gun would have been. But his hands found nothing and it was too late that he realised that he was in normal clothes.   
Changbin chuckled. “You do have guts to come to a club around here. Don’t you know that pretty much every nightclub is owned by some gang or the other?”   
‘And i just had to walk into one owned by him’ Felix thought in irritation. He slowly started to itch away from Changbin but the boy clicked his tongue   
“Can’t we just talk?” He snuck a glance at Felix. “You’re not even in your uniform” he commented. “Loosen up a bit”   
“Loosed up?” Felix spluttered in indignation. “I should be arresting you now.”   
“Go ahead,” Changbin said. “Try.” His voice was deeper than usual and Felix shivered.   
“Are all the nightclubs really owned by thugs?”   
“Pretty much.” Changbin replied. “Either that or there owned by rick businessmen who aren’t really worse.”  
“Also,” he continued, “Don’t call us thugs, its offensive.”   
Felix couldn’t believe his ears. After a second of trying to keep a straight face, he burst out laughing, the noise bouncing off the alley walls. Changbin turned towards him, the corners of his lips tugging upwards at the sight of Felix doubled over with uncontrollable laughter  
“Its impolite?” Felix wheezed, trying to catch his breath. “Well then, what exactly is your profession?”  
“We already went over this. I’m a businessman.”   
“Businessman my foot,” Felix replied, still chuckling. He kicked a pebble, sending it flying and tucked his hands into his pockets.   
“It’s a lot more polite than calling us thugs,” Changbin said, defensively   
“I can believe I’m having this conversation with you”   
“I saved your life a couple of days ago and this is how you repay me” he Changbin said sarcastically   
“I wouldn’t have even been in danger of losing my life if it wasn’t for you.” Felix said. “ I couldn’t sleep that night. I was terrified that he would come back”  
“He won’t,” Changbin promised. “At least not yet.”   
“What do mean not yet,” Felix asked indignantly, looking up at Changbin  
“He’s probably watching the house.” Changbin replied calmly “but he won’t make move yet. Not until he figures out whether killing you would be worth the police inspection and media coverage. He knows you’re an asset to me but he doesn’t know if you’re dangerous enough to make a move against”   
“My life has taken a strange turn after meeting you,” he replied sourly. “How do you know for sure?”  
“It’s what I would do.” Changbin said and they were silent for a second. “He won’t come after you,” Changbin said again. “He thinks that you’re on my side. Attacking you would be an open invitation for a gang feud.”   
Felix nodded. “I’ll still make sure to lock my doors and windows properly,” he said.   
Changbin chuckled. “If bangchan wants you dead, a locked door won’t stop him.” Felix looked up at him in alarm and Changbin let out a laugh at his expression. “Aah you looked so cute just when I said that” he said  
Felix felt his check heat up and looked away from Changbin   
“What’s wrong?” Changbin teased. “You were flirting just fine inside. What’s with this sudden shyness”  
“I wasn’t flirting!” he exclaimed looking up and then stopped short. Changbin was standing closer to him than he was before. He reached out and placed a hand on the wall behind Felix, partially caging him in.   
“Really?” Changbin said softly, staring at Felix's lips. “Well, I was.”   
Felix blinked.   
For a second, Felix felt his heart flutter but then stopped himself. Changbin wasn’t a giddy boy making plans for dinner. He was one of the biggest names in the mafia. He never did anything without a reason. Ever.   
So Felix pushed changbin off him and said with his chin held high “well I wasn’t. Why would I flirt with you?” he continued, stressing on the last word.“I was just having a good time”  
Changbin stepped next to him. “you’re a terrible liar.” he said, his voice cold. “Alright then. Go. He turned around and walked away from Felix, footsteps echoing on the cobbled street   
When he disappeared behind the door, Felix let himself breathe. His heart felt like it was about to burst. Faintly he remembered the thrill of lust he felt when the boy was caging him, the way the older man smelt of vanilla and coffee.   
He sighed, alone in the dark alley. I’m never drinking again he said, and walked home slowly.


	5. CHAPTER 5 - CHANGBIN

Changbin cursed and ducked behind a nearly shipping container just before he heard the gun fire. He clasped his own handgun to his chest, and waited a second. Then, he slowly peeped out from behind the crate. The area was empty but the man that fired the gun was probably close by. And so were his friends. Changbin needed to get to a safe house as fast as possible.   
He didn’t dare check on his own members. If they made it out of this alive, he’d treat them to steak and they’d boast about the event and try and forget the smell of gunpowder and the fear that stuck them. And if they didn’t make it out, they’d be quietly replaced, no mention made of the incident at all. Their families would receive a small sum of money and that was it. That’s how it always had been.   
Changbin pressed himself against the container, before moving to duck behind another one. He knew making a deal with Henry Leu was risky, but his greed won over his caution. He cursed himself for his stupidity, a textbook mistake that might cause him the lives of his men. Even though the fallen weren’t mentioned, they were still missed and their replacements never truly filled up the hole.   
Another bullet whizzed past his crate but Changbin wasn’t scared. This wasn’t his first time in a shoot-out. Staying alive was a skill he needed to excel in, for his line of work, and he did it well. Instead of fear, he felt the tiniest bit of excitement. Things had been too quiet lately, and with the millennium dome project coming up, he needed something to distract himself with. Plus, he needed to get the thought of a certain blond police officer out of his mind.  
Another bullet whizzed past but now, Changbin was prepared. He stepped out of his spot and fired two bullets, each precise. The first one missed its mark, but with the second one, he heard the sound of a man’s groan. He let out a cry of triumph and hid again, his time moving along the container to its other side. For a second, Changbin felt alive, with the smell of the sea from close by and the heavy metallic tang that hung in the air.   
He peeked out from the contained and then moved to another one, closer to the exit of the dock he had agreed to meet in for the deal. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hyungin and Yoongi and sent a silent prayer to whoever was listening to keep them safe, at least   
Having moved to a better vantage point, he had a clear view of the dock. There, one of henrys men in their black hoodies. He took aim, finger hovering above the trigger before he fired. The sound rung out in the air and he saw the man fall.   
Moving away, he saw something that made him stop in his tracks. Towards the end of the dock, a blue uniform could be seen. It was too dark to be one of the dock personnel. And the, the man moved into the sunlight and Changbin almost froze as he recognised the dusty golden of the man’s hair.   
‘Why can’t he just stay out of trouble’ Changbin thought irritably, moving to a safer spot. Whatever. Changbin wasn’t going to put himself in jeopardy to save some police officer. He ducked low and moved closer to the exit, to the car waiting outside.   
He turned towards Felix again and saw someone tailing him. The young police officer seemed oblivious, moving forward with his hands on his gun holster. No doubt he came after hearing the gunshots ringing in the air. ‘He shouldn’t have gotten involved’ Changbin thought bitterly. He looked against the exit, so open and inviting. But an image flashed before his eyes; the younger boy caged in between him and the alley wall, the way Felix’s lips looked- so soft and so kissable- and the way the boy stared up to him, eyes sparkling, right before his walls rose again and he pushed Changbin off.   
“Goddammit.” Changbin muttered and turned away, moving down the dock, partially hidden behind crates and containers. He realised with irritation that Felix was all the way on the other side of the berth. He walked faster, gun held ready to fire at a moment’s notice.   
Changbin was making his way through a slim opening between two containers when he heard the first shot. It seemed to come from in front of him, where Felix was supposed to be. Then, a second later, another one followed, leaving a too quiet silence in its wake. Changbin grit his teeth and broke into a run, mentally cursing himself for not moving fast enough. He stopped at the edge of a container, surveying the wide distance between him and the next container. He’d be out in the open if he went through this, and even if he ran, he’d be giving away his location to anyone waiting to fire from a vantage point.   
The wind rose around him, stirring changbins hair. In the distance, he heard the crashing of the waves under the harsh summer heat.   
‘Why am I doing this?’ he asked himself. He stopped to turn around, hand falling to his side when he heard the click of a gun being reloaded from behind him. He froze, fingers wrapping themselves tightly around his own gun.   
“Don’t even think about it.” a hoarse voice said from behind him.   
He didn’t move, didn’t even react at the sound of Henrys voice.   
“So this is it then,” henry continued, the glee evident in his voice. “The final showdown between both of us.” Changbin heard the sound of the cocking of a gun. “I wonder who’ll come out of it alive.”  
“Turn around” he commanded and Changbin wanted to break his face for the authority in his voice. Who did henry leu think he was to order him out like that? That man was the leader of one of the dirtiest, lowest gangs in the city.   
“I’m the one with the gun Changbin. Turn around”   
Slowly, hating himself for it, Changbin turned around and found himself face to face with henry leu. He stood with his gun aimed directly at Changbin chest, dark hair framing the sides of his face. Above them, a group of seagulls sailed past them, gliding with the wind.   
“Shall I shoot you?” Henry gloated. “Put a bullet through your heart and finish all this?”  
In that moment, Changbin allowed himself to be afraid. The image of tomorrow’s headlines flashed before his eyes. Local gang leader found dead on a berth. The thought of the gang estate, of how everyone would feel his missing presence but wouldn’t mention it. This was his legacy. This was the legacy of everyone in the streets. Of every gang leader. They live as gods but bleed as men  
Changbin closed his eyes, waiting for the henry to shoot him, for the bullet to tear through flesh and muscles.   
‘This is a good way to die,’ he thought, ‘with the wind in my hair and the sea nearby.’  
He heard some shuffling from behind him and waited. One second went by. Then another. He heard a thud.  
And then  
Henry Leu screamed   
Changbin opened his eyes, and his eyes widened with shock. Standing in front of him, henry was pointing at something behind Changbin, eyes bulged outwards. His mouth of still open but he was frozen   
Slowly, Changbin turned around, preparing himself to shoo if needed, remembering the gun he was clutching. But he too, was wordless at what he saw.  
Eddy Kim, Henrys second hand man and most trusted confidant and friend, was kneeling on the floor, head down. There was a gun pressed against his head, held by Felix. The officer was still in his uniform but in that moment, he looked nothing like a policeman   
“Let him go,” Felix said, rage lacing his words. “Or I will shoot.”   
Henry looked between Changbin and Felix, unsure of eat to say or do “who is this?” he asked finally   
‘I’m not sure I know either’ Changbin thought, looking at Felix. His shirt was untucked and dirty, hair mussed. But his eyes were bright. He looked nothing like he normally did. But Changbin couldn’t stand there and stare at Felix the whole day. He saw the way henry was hesitating, and he had a job to do, a reputation to keep up.  
Changbin turned to Henry, and walked towards him until henrys gun was pressed against Changbins chest. The younger crime lord swallowed and looked away. Easily, Changbin reached out and grasped henrys gun. “Young boys shouldn’t play with these” he tutted and took the gun from henry, throwing it side.   
“The police will be here soon.” Felix said, not taking his eyes away from henry and eddy Kim. “We should go”   
‘We?’ Changbin thought. This is an improvement.   
In a distance, he heard police sirens and nodded at Felix, “I know a safe house.” he said. The two moved, walking backwards, Felix’s gun still aimed at the two. Then, they disappeared behind a container and broke into a run, both of their guns ready to fire. But the other members’ of both gangs seemed to have made a run for it after hearing the sirens.  
Their getaway car was probably gone by now, Changbin thought and turned left, Felix still on his heels. He led the officer through the city, between small alleys and busy streets until they reached a house. It was small, one floor and scantily furnished. But it was safe.   
Felix followed Changbin inside, looking around at everything   
“Are you sure you should be bringing a police officer here” he asked, leaning against the kitchen wall   
Changbin cast him a sidelong glance at him. “I’ll make sure to tell my men to abandon it tomorrow.” He grabbed two bottles of beer from the fridge and kept them on the table.   
“Isn’t it too early for a drink?” Felix asked.   
“It’s never too early to-“Changbin started and then stopped short   
Felix was standing too straight, too stiff, his arm wrapped around his side, But Changbin saw the blood stains on his white shirt and read the pain on his face.   
“What happened?” he demanded, striding over to him   
“It’s nothing.” Felix replied. Changbin raised an eyebrow and Felix sighed. “I thought all Eddy was armed with was a gun but he had a concealed knife. It was a stupid mistake” “it’s not that deep though”; he added after a second of silence, “It barely hurts”.   
“Yeah, right” Changbin murmured. “Wait here”, he said leaving the room. In seconds, he was back, a first aid box with him.   
“Sit” he said, gesturing to the chairs around the dining table. He placed the box on the floor and knelt in front of Felix, he looked up at him, his gaze intense and heavy.   
“I’m going to check the wound now”, he said, and lifted Felix’s shirt up to reveal the bloodied wound on Felix’s side. Felix swallowed but didn’t look away from Changbin. The older man looked at the cut, which was bleeding profusely. “It’s not deep enough to stich” he muttered, mostly to himself, “but I should have made you run. It made things worse”   
He grabbed a cloth from the box and gently, pressed it to the wound, applying pressure. “Sorry if it hurts.” he said when Felix winced.   
“Can u talk?” Felix said through gritted teeth. Changbin looked up in surprise. “Just, talk about anything. This hurts more than I thought it would”   
“Never got stabbed before ey?” Changbin asked, attending to the boys wound. He started cleaning the wound, talking as he worked. “The first time I got stabbed was when I was 17, about a year after I started doing jobs and accompanying my father to his meet ups. I was with him which is probably the only reason I survived.” He paused for a second, focusing on cleaning the wound and then continued.   
“I didn’t feel the pain at first” he confessed. “I remember pushing the man off me, knife still indie me and watched my father kill him. Then I looked down and saw the knife, and the blood. My father was in front of me in a second, asking me something, yelling something furiously to his men. But I could barely hear him. I had lost too much blood”  
“When I woke up, I was in a hospital, my wound all stitched up and that when the pain started. It was a throbbing sensation and the worse pain that 17 year old me had ever experienced. It felt like my muscles were tearing and bleeding.”   
He looked up at Felix. “What about you? What’s the worst pain you experienced?”   
“Losing my sister” Felix blurted without thinking. He cringed at the silence that followed.   
“Is that why you moved here then?” Changbin asked, in a surprisingly gentle voice   
Felix looked away, “partly” he managed. “I always wanted to move here. This was always my dream.” He was silent for a second. “But it was also my sister’s dream.” The silence that followed his confession was too wide, too hollow for Felix to bear. He stood up, his now bandaged wound stinging as he stood and walked past Changbin towards the door.   
“How did it happen?” Changbin asked quietly, and Felix paused, hand outstretched to open the door. His kelp his eyes fixed on the shiny doorknob of the door, golden but the edges starting to fade into a dull bronze. “She was in the wrong place in the wrong time.” he said finally. “We don’t know what happened or how. All we know is that her body was found with her head smashed in, like someone hit her with something heavy. Jeju wasn’t the same without her. So I packed my bags and came here, hoping the noise of the city would help me forget”   
“Did it?” Changbin asked. His voice was closer than before, but just as quiet and soft. This was a confession of pain on Felix’s side, but this was the kind of pain that Changbin lived through every day. He wanted to tell the boy it would get better; it would become more bearable after a while. But to Changbin, the weight of his father’s recent death was still heavy on his shoulders and the ghosts of his fallen men haunted him to this day.   
Felix laughed, bitter and dry. “Every damn thing in this damn place reminds me of her”. He shook his head, as if to forget and Changbin felt a fierce sort of protectiveness towards him; Felix with his sad eyes and hollow laugh. A man who prided himself as a policeman and now, Changbin knew why that job was so important to him   
And how he was getting in the way   
So he didn’t say anything. He wanted to reach out and warp the boy in his arms. But they were too different for that to be possible. Felix waited for a second, as though he was expecting something but then, walked away, striding into the living room, leaving Changbin alone in the kitchen.


	6. chapter 6- felix

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I was initially planning on updating later but all the kind, encouraging comments on the last chapter really motivated me so here I am lol. I look forward to seeing what you all think.   
> As for uploads, I think ill have an upload schedule of once a week, every Saturday maybe. I hope i can keep it up tho   
> constructive criticism is appreciated

CHAPTER 6   
FELIX   
A police car raced past the safe house, sirens blazing. Felix sighed from where he sat on one of the chairs in the living room. They would probably be out here for another couple of hours, investigating.   
‘I’ll lie low for now’ he decided. He didn’t want to be involved in this. ‘I’ll tell the chief that I overslept or something.’   
Changbin walked in and sat down on another chair, beer in hand. Felix looked the other way, still embarresed about what happened in the kitchen. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Changbin take a sip of his beer, eyes on his phone. Felix’s eyes lingered on him for a second longer before he tore his gaze away.   
“What are you going to do?” Changbin asked, still looking at his phone   
“I’ll probably stay here for an hour or two and then go to the station. I’ll make up some kind of a story for being late.”   
Changbin nodded, but still didn’t look away from his phone. Felix wrung his hands together at the silence that settled between them. There was something awkward about the way they sat- so far away without even looking at each other. Changbin started typing something on his phone, an expression of relief on his face   
“Who are you texting?” he asked casually, both as an attempt at conversation as well as out of curiosity, “girlfriend?”   
“No”, he replied but didn’t move, his face still set in a mask of indifference illuminated by the light from his phone. Felix felt a surge of irritation at Changbins indifference. ‘Pig’, he thought. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have saved him.’   
Felix didn’t know what he was getting into when he entered the dock. He had heard the gun shots and went to investigate, but before long, he saw that he was being tailed. Immediately recognising Eddy Kim from wanted posters, he cautiously moved forward, until Eddy made a move to attack. Felix quickly defended himself, getting stabbed in the process, and in a few seconds, had his gun pressed against the side of Eddy’s face.  
“Where’s your boss?” he had asked. Eddy stared religiously at the ground. Felix lifted his gun, and brought it down to the side of Eddy’s head. The man fell, sprawling across the floor. “I’m not going to repeat myself again.” he said quietly. “Where is he?”   
“I don’t know eddy” said through gritted teeth. Felix scoffed, and raised his gun to take aim but stopped when he heard voices. Eddy’s face whipped towards the voice. ‘Bingo’ Felix though and grabbed eddy by the collar, dragging him to where the sounds were coming from   
And then he stopped, unable to believe what he was seeing   
Changbin stood, gun aimed to his chest by Henry Leu. His eyes were closed, the wind was blowing through his hair and he looked so damn defeated. Felix felt his blood boil at the way he stood there, the king conquered. ‘This is not how you die.’ he though fiercely.   
He pressed his gun to the side of Eddy Kim’s head, just as Henry saw them. He froze for a second, face going slack. And the, he opened his eyes and let out a heart wrenching scream. The sound echoed through the dock. And then, Felix remembered the rumours that had been going around of Eddy Kim and Henry leu being romantically involved. Looks like they weren’t just rumours. Eddy stared at the ground, unable to meet the other man’s eyes.  
At the sound of henrys scream, Changbin seemed to regain his senses. He saw henry, pale faced and terrified, staring at Felix and whirred around, lifting his hand with his gun to aim.   
And then he froze as well, eyes widening. But while henry stared at eddy, Changbin couldn’t take his eyes off Felix. He had felt a flutter of self-satisfaction then, at the way the criminal mastermind had stared at him as though he was a whole different person.   
And then Changbin was the gang boss again, not the captive. He walked towards Henry till the gun was pressed into his chest and Felix felt his breath hitch at the confidence in his actions. And as much as Felix hated himself for it, he felt a twinge of attraction for him.   
Now, sitting in the dim-lit room Felix felt desperate for his attention. Changbin stared at his phone, almost as though he was purposely ignoring Felix. Normally, Changbin would have responded to the girlfriend question with snide, flirtatious remarks and that intense look of his that always made Felix’s knees weak.   
He tried again. “Do you have a girlfriend,” he asked  
No he replied, putting his phone away. But he didn’t look at Felix, choosing instead to stare at the coffee table. Felix grit his teeth in frustration   
“Are you angry at me?” he demanded and Changbin looked up in surprise   
“What are you talking about?”   
“You’re not even looking at me” Felix scoffed, standing up. “After what happened in the dock I didn’t expect you to be this cold”   
Changbin met his gaze and Felix was taken aback at how fierce he looked. “You wouldn’t have had to save my life if you weren’t in the docks in the first place.” He said his voice rough and loud. “I was almost out, but I saw you being followed and decided to help”   
“You- you came back for me?”  
“Why were you there anyway?” He demanded, ignoring Felix’s question. He stood up and started pacing the room. “Next time, when you hear gunshots coming from a closed off area, you run the opposite direction or you call for help. You could have died for god’s sake.”   
“So what” Felix shouted, suddenly angry. “So what if I died. There’s nothing in this city for me. I was doing my job. What were you doing??”   
“My job.” Changbin replied, now yelling himself. “I was doing my goddam job” and Felix was so done with him. So done with all this bullshit. He didn’t want Changbin to stop talking, he wanted to stop everything   
So he walked across the room before Changbin could say anything else and kissed him   
There was nothing soft or gentle about this kiss. It was Felix’s hands on Changbin’s collar, Changbin pushing him against a wall and kissing him harder, more urgently. In the distance, sirens still blazed but the two of them didn’t notice anything except Changbin’s hands on Felix hair and their lips on each other’s. Felix moaned against Changbin when he let his tongue slip into the younger boy’s mouth. This kill was all teeth and tongue, sloppy, uncoordinated, and violent.   
And then they pulled away, Felix still grasping Changbin’s collar. Changbins eyes were fixed on felixs lips, and for a second no one spoke. They stood, theirs breaths mingling, no other sound in the room except for their heavy breaths   
“I just wanted you to stop talking” Felix muttered, letting go of Changbin’s collar. “Though, I’m glad you enjoyed it so much”   
“We can’t do this.” Changbin said in reply, looking at Felix. “You’re a cop.”  
“And since when has that ever been a problem?” Felix asked. “You’re the one that flirted first”   
“I know how much being a police officer means to you” Changbin said, looking down. “This”, he motioned between them, “whatever this is will jeopardise that”   
Felix bit his lip, “ahh” so that was the problem. “I don’t want to think about that now.” he said softly. “Look, Changbin, I really like you. So,” he swallowed, suddenly nervous, “so let’s just do this until we can. And if it crashes and burns in the end at least we can say that we tried. I understand that there are thing you won’t be able to tell me but,” And then he paused, looking away from Changbin who stared up at him so earnestly. “But I want you to be that someone for me. The someone that keeps me here.”   
And then Changbin’s fingers were on Felix’s chin, guiding his lips to Changbin’s. This was soft and gentle. It was Changbin’s way of saying ‘thank you’ and ‘sorry’ and ‘I really like you too’. These are the kind of kisses Felix got used to getting later on in life, during lazy mornings and date nights.   
Changbin pulled away and smiled at Felix, and Felix decided that he wanted to see Changbin smile at him like that again.   
\-----------------   
Later on that evening, after a lot of making out and cuddling on the sofa, Felix reported to the police station. After hurried lecture o punctuality by seungmin, he was given a full report of what happened that morning by an officer called lee Minho   
“By the time were there they were all gone. We’re still working to find out what happened” he said. And then handed Felix a file. “This is about the security and your position for the millennium done project. Its just two days away. Look through this and tell me if you need anything. And don’t be late on that day, it’s very important”  
And then he walked away, and Felix stared down at the file. He knew what would happen that day; he knew that Changbin and jisung were planning something. He felt his heart sink, the euphoria of that morning leaving him  
‘What am I going to do?’ he wondered desperately, and with a heavy heart, set out on his duties for the day.


	7. Chapter 7- Changbin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sooo sorry for being inactive. i kinda hit a slump and i had a TON of work to do for school.   
> Thank you guys for all the positive comments on the last chapter. i hope yall will like this one just as much.   
> Also, i forgot to tell you all that i have a tumblr @stanstraykidz. come say hi !!!

CHAPTER 6   
Changbin  
The next couple of days passed by in the blink of an eye. Meetings, planning, organising people and arms and getting everything in place for the millennium dome project took up all his time.   
As much as Changbin loved the fight of the game, he adored the planning process just as much. The heated debates and nights spent pouring over blueprints and plans, drinking more coffee than was healthy; it was all a part of the chase. And Changbin was determined on winning   
Far too soon, it was the day of the heist. Everything was in place, and they were all set. There were 10 people from his side and 4 from jisung, all armed and unrecognisable, thanks to the sfx artist Changbin hired.   
They parked the car around 5 buildings away from the millennium dome and got out. Next to him, Hyungin was biting his lip, eyes darting across the street. Jisung didn’t seem to know what do with his hands. One second they were in his pocket, the next he wrung them together, the next he checked his phone. They were all nervous. Even Changbin couldn’t ignore the pounding of his heart.   
But this was not the time to be nervous. They were moving closer to the millennium dome and Changbin took a deep breath, grounding himself. The streets were full of people, their excited chatter filling the air. Cars inched through the streets, slowly moving forward in the morning traffic.  
Changbin snuck a glance at his companions, and caught hyungin eye. “Let’s do this,” he mouthed and hyungin nodded, taking a deep breath himself. They turned around a corner and suddenly, the millennium dome was in front of them, large and magnificent. The top was covered with glass panes of different colours. Changbin heard a sharp intake of breath from behind him at the way the morning light reflected off of the light, and at the grandness of the entire structure.   
Changbin turned towards his entourage. Jisung was next to him, looking slightly unsure and Changbin couldn’t help but hate him for that. How could a gang boss show such weakness in front of his men in times like this?   
“We’ve been panning for this job for over 10 days now”, he said, voice steady and clear. “You all know your jobs. Get them done and get them done right.” He lifted his head higher and smiled. His voice was raspier than usual when he spoke “Shall we begin?” 

Minutes later, they were all in their positions. Changbin, Hyungin, Min Yoongi, Jisung and Ten, one of Jisungs men, stood outside the back entrance, ready to move when the time came. Changbin glanced at his watch again. 1 minute to twelve. They had one minute.   
“For what it’s worth seo Changbin” jisung said, staring at the door, “it was nice working with you”   
“Likewise”, Changbin replied, eyes till on the watch. “But Lets never do this again.”   
Yoongi let out a laugh but Changbin cut him off before he could say anything. “10 seconds”, he said and he felt the others tense beside him.   
5 seconds, and hyungin hand crept towards the door handle. It would be unlocked in 5 seconds if everything went according to plan. The door was electronically controlled, which meant that two of jisungs men had to get to the control centre inside the dome itself, disarm the guards there, and set off lock.   
2 seconds, and Changbin fleetingly wondered if Felix would be there. He wondered what he would do if he saw the boy and sent a silent prayer that that never happened.   
And then, they heard the click of the door being unlocked, and they moved inside, Hands moving towards their concealed weapons. They didn’t expect any commotion this early on, and if the job went well they could get through the entire job without a fight, but they still moved cautiously through the narrow walkway. And in a couple of seconds, they were in the main hall, surrounded by people. There were exhibits everywhere, from the paintings on the walls, to the various antiques displayed. And then in the centre was the prize jewel, the millennium star. Worth more than the entire building and everything in it. It was surrounded by security guards and there were at least 3 cameras focus on the jewel itself.   
Changbin and his men spread out, each of them approaching from different directions, looking like normal viewers. And then, they were standing next to the glass case that held the jewel. And they waited.   
Suddenly, the lights went off, and Changbin knew that the alarms on the case were off, courtesy to Jisungs men in the control room. Quickly, everyone except Changbin and min Yoongi moved towards the guards, to keep them occupied without rousing much suspicion.   
They only had 30 seconds until the power came back on. By then, they had to be outside again.   
Yoongi took out a glass vial of Hydrofluoric acid from his bag and started to slowly, carefully dissolve part of the glass. Somewhere on the top floor, a torch lit. But Changbin had people up there to take care of any commotion that might spread. In a few seconds, the torch was off and the sound of people talking grew louder.   
10 seconds and there was a sizable hole in the glass case. After waiting for a second or two, yoongi put a glove on and reached inside the box, his hand closing around the small diamond. In seconds, it was in the small black pouch and inside Changbins pocket and they were moving towards the hallway that led to the back exit.   
And then, there was a police officer blocking their path, shining a torch brightly on their faces. Changbin covered his eyes over the sudden bright light, heart pounding. And when he opened his eyes, he was face to face with Felix   
“Go.” Changbin muttered to Yoongi. “Take the other exit.” Time for plan B. An exit through the servant’s quarters. It would attract much more attention but if anyone could get it done, it was Yoongi. With a quick nod and a “See you on the other side”, he took off in the opposite direction, just as the emergency lights lit up the.   
“I’m sorry” Felix said, grasping his torch almost desperately “but I can’t let you do this. It’s my - It’s my job” he stammered.  
“It’s okay.” Changbin replied, the diamond a dead weight in his pocket. “You do your job.” The red lights flashed around them, Illuminating Felix’s face in flashes of red, and Changbin was numbly aware of the crowd forming around them, of the whispers that flooding the room. “You do your job,” he repeated. “And I’ll do mine.” And then he was charging at Felix, shoving the bright eyed man roughly aside and running past.   
He heard footsteps following him but he raced forward and burst through the back door, shutting it close behind him. He heard the thuds on the door of the rest of the police officers trying to get through, but the locks were now securely in place. Still, he ran, not allowing himself to breathe. He saw the motorboat he had secured as an escape path through the river Thames. Yoongi and hyungin were already sitting in it with the engine on, ready to go. The others had other escape paths and routes, so that even if one man got caught, the rest of them were safe.   
He jumped onto the motorboat, and they sped away, the wind in their hair. Hyungin let out a whoop of delight, and Yoongi was smiling brightly. Changbin laughed, relieved and overjoyed. A job well done. They had the diamond and no one got hurt. It was the perfect job.   
Changbin shoved aside the thread of guilt he felt, tried to ignore the way he shoved the boy so hard that he fell. In that moment, Changbin tried to focus on the feeling of winning, while trying desperately to ignore what he might have lost.


	8. chapter 8 - felix

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> its been a while since i last updated and im really sorry about that. things just got really stressful and i couldn't really handle school as well as content creation.   
> But im back now with another chapter !! I hope you guys like it.   
> comments and kudos are appreciated !! Don't forget to tell me what you think about it

CHAPTER 8   
FELIX   
Felix stopped spending the nights in his house.   
He’d stumble through the streets of Seoul, bottle in hard, until he was too tired and too drunk to think straight. Then, he’d stagger into this house in the early hours of the morning and tumble into a deep dreamless sleep.   
That night of the millennium dome incident, his feet found their way to the club that he met Changbin in that one time. But he stayed outside for about an hour, staring at the brightly lit sign, and then left for a soju shop, his heart heavy.   
The inspectors had patted him on the back when he went back to the station that day, assuring him that they would find the thief. And all the while, Felix couldn’t swallow the lump in his throat at the guilt he felt. His partners truly trusted him, and they actually felt bad for him. And what did he do to repay them for that trust? By making out with the enemy while they were looking for him   
He didn’t hate Changbin for pushing him that day. He was right, he was just doing his job. But he regretted not being able to do his own job right. He didn’t know what to say to Changbin now if he did meet him so he didn’t try. And Changbin didn’t make any unexpected visits either.  
Amidst those thoughts, memories of his sisters floated through his mind, her passion for justice and order. H felt like he had failed her somehow.  
And so he tried not to think, and stayed outside his small, quiet house for as long as he could.   
He strolled into the station, earlier than anyone else and dead tired from lack of sleep. The place seemed silent, and except for a few beary eyed policemen retiring from their night shift, there was no one around.   
He sat at his desk and stared at the files of work and unfinished reports he had to do before standing with a sigh. He made a beeline to the coffee machine, knowing that an unhealthy amount of caffeine would be the only thing that could get him through the day.   
But as he walked past, he saw the door to seungmins office slightly open. He heard muffled voices through the door and walked over. Seungmin was always here before anyone else, but this was especially early, even for the inspector.   
“I feel guilty” he heard seungmin saying from inside, and even though he knew he shouldn’t, he stood outside, door hovering over the handle, listening intently. “Felix is a good kid. It’s a pity his sister was a casualty in one of your jobs.”   
He heard a chuckle from inside, dark and familiar but felix couldn't understand where he heard that voice before. “The girl was in the wrong place. But we took care of it. a job in the city of dreams and a decent amount of compensation money. You have nothing to be guilty about.” “Keep an eye on him though. He could be dangerous to us”   
“Nah hes harmless. How could he be dangerous to us”   
Silence for a few seconds “Hes working with Seo Changbin.”   
Stunned silence, and then a dry laugh from seungmin. Felix reeled back, hand on his mouth to silence his heavy breaths. “Is there anyone in this goddam police station that isn’t influenced by a gang or a politician.” Seungmin chuckled “How did you find out”   
“Not for you to know,” the other voice said and Felix realised who seungmin was speaking to. Bangchans voice floated through the door and Felix took a step back, unable to comprehend what was happening. He stood there, hand pressed against his mouth to control his heavy breaths.   
Bangchan, leader of one of the largest, most fearsome crime syndicates in Seoul was talking to his commanding officer as though they were work buddies. Not just that, they were talking about him.   
And then their words ran through his head again. A sister. A casualty in a job  
He felt sick  
Felix stumbled away from the door, unable to control his rapid breathing. His didn’t make sense. Nothing made sense. He blindly ran out of the door, almost tripping over the pavement, trying not to think. But no matter how hard he ran, he couldn’t stop the thoughts from creeping up on him.  
The sun had come up properly, and the streets were full of the sound of the morning traffic when felix slowed to a walk and found himself standing outside the bar he had met Changbin at. He stared at the sign for a second, before making up his mind and walking into the bar, head held high  
As soon as he entered, all eyes turned on him which is exactly what he wanted. A police officer in full uniform stepping into a bar owned by one of the biggest Crimelords of Seoul was definitely something to gawk at. He knew it wouldn’t be long before news reached Changbin, and for some reason, he knew that the other man would come when he found out.   
Felix didn’t know what he’d say to Changbin when he met him, but he didn’t know where else to go. But more importantly, felix trusted Changbin. He felt safe with him. Not just because he was a feared gang leader but because he was… him. Because he always came back for felix. Because he never pushed him or asked too many questions. He was Changbin and that fact alone allowed felix to keep his calm. He’d just explain what happened calmly to Changbin and ask for his help, he decided, sipping a drink that the bartender had belligerently handed him.   
But the moment he saw Changbin, all thoughts of calmness left his mind. He forgot whatever he was going to say.   
After almost a week of not allowing himself to think of Changbin, the man looked breath-taking. He was dressed formally, in a fitted suit, and he looked at Felix with so much intensity that he had to look away, a blush coating his cheeks.   
The crowd practically parted around Changbin, until finally he was standing in front of Felix, a hairsbreadth of distance between them. Everyone in the bar was blatantly staring at them, not even trying to hide their curiosity, but one wave of Changbins hand and a sideways look had them all scurrying in different directions, throwing a last glance at the pair of them   
Changbin nodded at Felix to follow him and walked out the back entrance, into the alley. The moment the door closed behind them, Changbin turned around, his eyes worried. “What wrong?” he asked “Is everything okay?”   
Felix opened his mouth but no words came out. Everything that he planned to say vanished from is mind. Changbin stepped in front of Felix, and slowly, hooked his fingers under Felix chin and met his gaze. “Hey,” he said softly, “what’s wrong?”   
And then Felix was an incoherent mess, telling Changbin everything at once. Everything that happened that day and everything that had been on his mind since the millennium dome incident came gushing out in a stream of words and by the end of it, Changbin and Felix were sitting on the ground, backs against the stone wall of the bar. Changbin silently listened through it all, sometimes holding the boys hand as he spoke.   
“What am I going to do now?” Felix said miserably at last, burying his face in his hands.   
Changbin didn’t say anything for a second and then spoke his voice quiet. “If you want I can take care of them”   
Felix whipped his head to Changbin “absolutely not” Felix said firmly, “you can’t go around ‘taking care’ of everyone that’s out to get me”   
“Technically I can” he muttered. Felix fixed him with a stare and he raised up his hands in mock defence.   
“Hey” Changbin said in a light-hearted voice, no doubt trying to cheer him up “what did one sea say to the other?”   
Felix gave him a blank stare. This was not the time for puns. Nevertheless, he played along “Sea you later?”   
Changbin shook his head, a stupid grin on his face “they didn’t say anything, they just waved” he said before he burst out laughing at his own joke   
“Oh my god.” Felix groaned, rolling his eyes. “You’re the head of one of the most dangerous gangs in Seoul and your go-to way to cheer your boyfriend up is with stupid puns”   
“It worked dint it” Changbin teased, bumping his shoulder against felixs. “Also, did you just call me your boyfriend?”   
“Shut up” Felix muttered, looking away, his ears turning red.   
Changbin looked at Felix for a second, and Felix really just wanted to kiss that stupid smile off of his face.   
“I think it sounds good,” Changbin said “boyfriend”  
“Stop” Felix whined, burying his face in his hands. He peeked at Changbin through the spaces between his fingers and stopped when he saw the he was still staring at him. ‘How cute’, Changbin thought. He sometimes forgot that the other boy was younger than he was. “See, told you stupid puns work at making people feel better.” Changbin said.   
Felix groaned and sat up, remembering everything that had happened. “Should not have brought that up again” Changbin muttered but Felix didn’t move, staring at the wall. Changbin shifted so that he was sitting closer to Felix and reached for his hand. “It’ll be okay.” he muttered and Felix rested his head on Changbins shoulder.   
There was something intimate in the way they sat and in that moment, nothing else mattered. It was just the two of them and their interlocked hands.   
“You could come with me” Changbin said suddenly and Felix looked up in surprise. Changbin shrugged. “You had guts coming in here today. And besides, id kind of like having you around. You don have to of course” Changbin continued, “and I’d never make you do anything you don’t have to but I’d-“ and then Felix was kissing him and Changbin reacted almost immediately, hands cupping Felix’s face and kissing him back, deepening the kiss in seconds. Felixs grabbed at his collar, pulling Changbin closer to him, if that was even possible. Kissing Changbin always felt like fire engulfing him and sin and an entire swarm of butterflies but this was something different. Felix tasted ambrosia on his tongue and the world paused for them, until all he knew was changbins hands on his face, his fingers threading through felixs hair till they broke apart, only for Changbin to lean in and kiss him again.   
When they broke apart a second time, Changbin licked his lips and looked up at Felix, smiling brighter than the sun and Felix felt euphoric at the thought that he was the one who make Changbin smile like that.   
“Is that a yes?” Changbin asked at last  
“Not really”, Felix admitted. “It was more of a ‘thanks for offering’ present.”   
“I think I should make offers like this more often” Changbin said, licking his lips again   
“I’m not going to move in with you,” Felix said loudly, face heating up. “But I have a better idea”   
“Do tell?” Changbin said tilting his head to one side.   
“I’m going to go back to the police station,” Felix said “and I’m going to bring that place down. I know bang Chan is a really dangerous man, but I have an advantage this time.”   
“And what’s that?” Changbin asked, his face impassive  
Felix grinned “they don’t know that I know.” He said “My sister deserved better than to be referred to as a casualty of a job. And so does everyone else that died because of Bang Chan”   
Changbin was quiet, his face still blank “What’s wrong” Felix asked, looking confused.   
“Nothing”, Changbin replied.   
“Don’t lie to me Seo Changbin. What is it? Do you think I won’t be able to do it?”   
“It’s not that” Changbin sighed. “If there’s anyone who can pull this off, it’s you.”   
“So what’s wrong?” Felix asked insistently   
Changbin shook his head. “Go for it” he said, looking up at Felix, dismissing his question. “I can help out if you want”   
Felix shook his head. “I want to do this own my own. It’s a private grudge”   
“It is but it also kind of isn’t.” Changbin replied “do you remember the millennium diamond?”   
“How can I forget?”   
“It’s been stolen from us”   
Felix looked up in alarm “stolen from you? What do you mean?”   
“One day it was in the vault, men from both my side as well as jisungs side guarding it. The next day, all the men were dead, the cameras disabled and the vault broken and empty. There’s no one who can pull off a heist from my base, nor anyone with that much guts, except for bang Chan. Not just that, but we found a locket that all their men wear lying next to the exit. It’s definitely them.”   
Felix seemed to consider this for a moment and then nodded. “Okay then,” he said firmly.” I guess we’ll be working together” and then he gave Changbin a smile that made Changbin lean in and kiss him again.


	9. Chapter 9- changbin

CHAPTER 9   
CHANGBIN   
“Something doesn’t feel right.” Hyunjin said, walking into Changbins office   
The latter looked up from his files. “What’s wrong with you?”   
“The stolen diamond. Something’s wrong”   
“Of course something’s wrong” Changbin sighed, “it’s gone isn’t it”   
“Not that.” Hyunjin said. “It’s just – are you sure Banghan’s behind it?”   
“Who else could it be?” Changbin asked. “He’s the only one with the manpower to pull this off. Also, did you forget we found his locket. It has to be him”  
“Exactly.” Hyunjin replied “we found his locket. When has that ever happened . How is it that the members of a group known for being meticulous in their work make a silly mistake like this? Also, if Bangchan did do this, he wouldn’t stay silent like this. If you think that he wouldn’t take every opportunity to gloat and humiliate us because of this, then you’re wrong”   
“What are you trying to say?”  
“Im saying, what if its not him? What reason would he have to steal it anyway?”  
“Bangchans the kind of person to do things just to show that he can.” changbin pointed out   
“So then why hasn’t he done anything yet. If you were in his place, would you be quiet for this long? It’s been five days since its gone missing and he hasn’t said anything. This isn’t BangChans style and you know it.”   
“What about the locket? those lockets aren’t the types that can be forged. Theyd cost a fortune to replicate.”   
“That’s whats been bothering me.” hyunjin admitted. “Maybe someone from bangchnas side was a traitor?”  
“People from BangChans gang would rather face the devil himself than even think of deserting.” changbin said. “That man is crueeler and more stubborn than any other ganglord. Beesides, if it isn’t them, who would it be ?”   
“The other gangs have been quiet for a while. Especially since the eddy kim incident.”   
Changbin barked out a laugh. “You think eddy kim and his men are behind this ? hyunjin I thought uyou were a smarter man. You know they don’t hhave the numbers or the money to pull something like this off”  
Hyunjins nortrils flared but his voice remained impassive as ever “I think they want revenge. zAnd revenge makes even a smart man foolish and desperate.”   
Changbin raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know we had a poet in our gang.” He commented. Hyunjin opened his mouth to say something but Changbin cut him off, “okay” he said   
“Okay?” Hyunjin asked, looking slightly unsure of himself   
“I’ll give you 24 hours to get me solid proof that Bang Chan and his men aren’t behind this. 24 hours and if you don’t come up with anything, we continue as planned.”   
Relief flooded hyunjins face and Changbin wondered how much the other man had debated with himself before coming to his office.   
\---   
Five hours later, Hyunjin ran into Changbin in the corridor. “We need to talk.” he said and gestured for Changbin to follow him   
As one of changbins inner circle, Hyunjin had a room in the main house. The room was sparsely furnished, and there was nothing personal displayed. When the two of them were in the room, Hyunjin turned to face him  
“It isn’t eddy Kim” Hyunjin said   
Changbin smiled and began to say something but Hyunjin spoke before he had the chance. “It’s everyone.”   
“Everyone? What does that even mean?”   
Hyunjin hesitated, as if he was trying to find the right words to soften the blow of what was to come. “I mean,” he began, “that every small and medium gang in Seoul has teamed up together.”   
“And their target is us?” Changbin asked incredulously   
“Kind of.” Hyunjin replied. “they’re targeting us, bang Chan and han jisung because they think that us and jisung are affiliated.”   
“What the hell?” Changbin seethed   
“They want to establish themselves as the new mafia bosses.” Hyunjin said quietly, “people have grown tired of how much power you and bang Chan have, and they’ve grown greedy for it”   
Changbin was quiet or a second. “Call bangchan and set up a meeting between the two of us.”   
Hyunjin sucked in a breath “What are u going to do ?   
“You’ll see.” Changbin replied   
\--------   
It wasn’t easy to meet up with the other gang but come 1am that Friday, the two gang heads stood face to face and got patted down by the other groups men. They had agreed to meet in neutral territory. If weapons were found, or if rules set down by either party were violated, neutral territory would be violated and it was considered an act of open war against the other gang.   
Both of them had 2 gang members with them each. Changbin recognised one of the men beside bang Chan – Kim Woojin. His silver hair stood out as always and Changbin found his eyes following the man’s arm tattoos till where they disappeared under his sleeve. Woojin nodded in recognition and but remained silent. He had a small cut on the corner of his lip, and it seemed to burn red under the fluorescent streetlights.  
Bang Chan also brought bam bam with him, his friend and confidante since pre gang-leader days   
Well, bang Chan said, tilting his head to the side, are you here to gloat   
Hyunjin shot him a confused look. Gloat about what Changbin asked, brow furrowing in confusion   
Don’t bluff, he scoffed; I know you and your little clique stole the Garçon à la pipe from us. Don’t pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about   
You mean the painting Changbin asked, still confused   
Bang Chan gave him a blank stare. “Yes” he replied, “the 104 thousand dollar painting that vanished from our vaults three days ago. And do you know what we found next to the vault? it’s one of those rings” Chan gestured towards the identical rings that him, Yoongi and Hyunjin wore. A marker that they were all from changbins gang and a warning for the other gangs to stay away,   
It took Changbin a second, but then the pieces fit together. He sighed and turned towards Hyunjin and Yoongi. “It seems the other gangs have been more foolish than we thought.”  
A look of realisation dawned on their face. Yoongi let out a low whistle.   
“What’s going on?” Chan demanded   
“It seems we’ve been framed” Changbin sighed and turned to look at chan. “And so were you. Six days ago, the millennium diamond disappeared from our vaults and the only thing left behind was that necklace of yours. Apparently, the smaller gangs decided they didn’t want us in charge anymore”   
“What kind of bullshit is that” bang Chan raged “do you expect-“   
“I don’t think he’s lying” Woojin said quietly, cutting Chan off. He was staring intently at the younger gang leader. “I heard eddy Kim is bitter that your duel with him didn’t end in his favour.” He said to Changbin. “He’s been bested by us a lot as as well. A ma like Eddy Kim holds his grudges well”  
“Eddy Kim ?” bang Chan barked out a laugh, “don’t tell me that punk had the numbers or the guts to steal from us”   
“It wasn’t just eddy kim” Yoongi said. “its pretty much every small gang in the city. They’ve combined forces.”   
“All that to get us off the top spot ?” bambam mused, “I’m quiet flattered that theyre trying so hard”   
“So they tried to make us go against each other” Woojin said, “and probably planned to attack us when we were at our weakest after our fight. It’s a pretty smart strategy.”  
“So what now ?” bambam asked   
“No we fight back” Changbin said.” We have an advantage, and that is that they don’t know that we know.”   
“ ‘We’ ?” chan asked, brows raise “do you expect us to work together for this”   
“We might as well changbin said. we’d have more numbers and more connections. They’ll never know what coming for them”  
Chan opened his mouth to say something but Woojin smiled slowly, “I like it” he said. “They wanted to divide the two biggest gangs in Seoul but they ended up working together. He looked at chan. It’s quite the paradox”  
Bangchang looked at Woojin and his harsh gaze softened slightly, but it was gone so fast that Changbin thought he imagined it. He seemed to consider for a second and then nodded, “I guess it would be better” he said, voice cold as ever. He stuck his hand out and Changbin shook his hand. Next to him, Yoongi and Hyunjin seemed to be holding their breath   
“If you double cross me Changbin” Chan said before he let go of his hand, “I hope you know whats in store”   
“Likewise”, Changbin replied.   
“Youll hear from us”, Yoongi said, and the three of them disappeared into the network of streets and alleys of downtown Seoul

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do you think felix is gonna take the news that changbin and chan are working together :)))))))  
> Don't forget to tell me what you though !!! reading your comments makes my day !!  
> you can find me on my Tumblr @stanstraykidz


	10. Chapter 10 - felix

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is literally 2k words of angst lmao prepare yourselves.

Felix  
When Felix opened the door that morning to find Changbin standing outside, he didn’t question it. He let out a surprised laugh and threw his hands around the other man, hugging him hello before dragging him inside his apartment.  
“Did you have breakfast yet?” Felix had asked excitedly. “Neither have I.” he continued when Changbin shook his head no. They talked about silly things and burnt around 2 pancakes in their carelessness.  
“I’ve never cooked for myself before” Changbin had admitted, scratching the back of his neck, embarrassed causing Felix to laugh.  
“Oh my god, just sit down before you burn the place down” he said, shooting Changbin a fond look.  
Now, only an hour after that happy moment, the atmosphere was a lot tenser. Changbin and Felix stood facing each other. Felix’s fist was balled into a fist, his rage shining through his previously bright eyes. “What do you mean?” he asked, his breath coming out heavily.  
“There wasn’t anything I could do.” Changbin said, his tone apologetic. “It was either this, or Bang Chan would have worked against us as well. This would have been the perfect opportunity for him. I had to do what I had to do to protect my gang. “  
“And what makes you say he won’t come for you now?” Felix demanded venom in his words. “He’s just going to use you and then dispose off of you when he’s done”  
“Bang Chan doesn’t go back on his deals and promises. He won’t touch us now that we’re in a state of ceasefire.”  
“I still can’t believe you’re working with him.” he spat out. “Did what I told you the other day mean nothing to you? That man is a killer”  
“Well so am I.” Changbin replied, his tone firm. He shocked himself when the words left his mouth, and he watched Felix’s eyes grow wider. He realised then, that he would have done the same if he had been in BangChans place “You’ve imagined this image of myself in your mind, in which in kinder, better and softer. But the truth is, I’m the head of one of the biggest gangs in Seoul and that’s a title that means a lot to me. If someone threatened my position, I fight back, and if needed, I kill. That’s my job.”  
They were both breathing heavily now, glaring at each other.  
“Get out.” Felix said, pointing towards the door.  
Changbin seemed to be taken aback. “What?”  
“I said,” Felix said, “get out. I don’t want to be around you right now.”  
Changbin walked towards the door without sparing Felix another look. “I told you,” he said when he reached the door, “we’re too different for this to work.” There was barely contained emotion in his voice, but he did not turn back. He was doing what he needed to do. Changbin walked out of the house, and after he calmed down, Felix grabbed his police cap and walked out as well, the pancakes lying forgotten on the table.  
\----  
The rage followed Felix to the police station and by the end of the day, the other officers were wary around him.  
The only person that seemed immune to his temper was Seungmin who, annoyingly enough seemed more cheery than usual. He grinned every time he saw Felix, and shot him a smug look that made his blood boil.  
Halfway through the day, after Felix had snapped at a subordinate who came to give him some papers, seungmin called him into his office. He walked in, determined to confront seungmin but was taken aback when he saw that he wasn’t the only person in the room. Sat across from seungmin, two other officers were seated. One of them, Felix vaguely recognised as lee Minho, Seungmins right-hand man. There were all kinds of rumours floating around about the man – each more vicious than the last. He was barely even in the station himself, but whenever he came, he left promptly after giving a report to seungmin.  
The other man was the youngest, newest addition to their squad. Yang Jeongin shifted uncomfortably on his chair and shot Felix an uncertain smile when he walked in. Felix smiled back, already warmed up to the younger man.  
“Right,” seungmin said, sitting back and surveying the three of them, “I’ve called you all here because we have a job to do.” He placed three photos on his desk, each of them showing a black haired, lean man in dark clothing. “This is eddy Kim, a minor mafia gang boss. He’s been quiet for a long time, but lately, he’s been causing trouble and we need to make sure he knows his place.”  
“Are you conveniently forgetting that we’ll be working with the mafia for this?” Felix didn’t know why he said it, but the next thing he knew, he was standing up, hands curled into fists, glaring at seungmin with barely suppressed rage.  
The police superintendent only looked taken aback for a second. “Are you conveniently forgetting that you’re involved in the mafia as well?” he smirked. “I know your new to all of this, but don’t play the victim. You’re as bad as everyone else in this room.” He paused. “Well, except Jeongin.” He shot a look at the young man. “He definitely doesn’t know what he’s getting into”  
“Hey!” Jeongin exclaimed, his features twisting into one of annoyance. “How do you know that? We’ve never worked together before.”  
“You apologized to a cockroach when you killed it”, Minho replied quietly with the barest hint of a smile.  
Jeongin puffed his chest up and started to say something in reply but Felix cut him off. “Why are you all doing this?” he asked, desperation lacing his words. “Don’t you see that this is wrong?”  
Minho clenched his jaw but looked straight ahead and Jeongin shuffled uncomfortably in his chair. But Seungmins face was impassive as ever, and when he spoke, his voice was colder than Felix remembered “If you want to leave” he said, “then go. No one’s stopping you. And I won’t even report back to my boss.” They both knew he wasn’t talking about the officer-in-charge when seungmin said this. “If you’re going to sit here and spew this bullshit without knowing anything,” his clutched the edge of his table, knuckled going white, “then leave”  
And so Felix left. Walked out without hesitating and went back o his cubicle, burying himself in paperwork because if he stopped working even for a second, and was let to his thoughts, he was going to go crazy. Too many things had happened that day, and Felix didn’t know how to handle any of them. So he shut them out and focused on the task at hand.  
When Felix was leaving the station late that night, he saw a figure leaning against the wall, masked by the shadows and, for a second, he thought it was Changbin and he felt his heart jump. But then, the shadows thinned and he saw that it was seungmin, head bowed, fingers playing with an unlit cigarette. He sighed and pocketed the cigarette and then looked up, surprised to see Felix standing there  
The younger man lowered his eyes and made to walk by him when seungmin spoke. “I’m sorry that I lost my temper earlier,” he said, “You were right.” And then he paused and let out a bitter laugh. “But you were also wrong. So wrong.”  
Seungmin pushed himself off the wall and beckoned Felix to follow him. After a second, Felix followed, walking with seungmin down the dark, cold streets of a city that he couldn’t help but love.  
For a while, the two didn’t speak, and just as Felix was about to say something to break the silence, seungmin spoke  
“My elder sister and I were left in the streets of downtown Seoul after my parents passed away. Our house went up in flames one day and our relatives were more concerned about their share of the inheritance to care about us.” He took a deep breath, eyes still focused on the pavement. “It was snowing when Chan found us. We were huddled up together in a corner, trying to warm ourselves in the bitter cold of winter. He took us in, welcomed us into his gang and more importantly, made sure we got our revenge. We were free to leave whenever we wanted to, Chan made sure we knew that, but we had nowhere else to go. Even if we did, I don’t think we would have left.” He smiled now, “Stay in the mafia for long enough, and you start to love it”  
“It’s still wrong,” Felix said  
Seungmin shrugs, “that depends on you. My sister and I made sure to know our limits, and we always stayed within them. Bang Chan told us about that, told us to make sure we stayed in control of ourselves”  
Felix laughed a bitter laugh, “Bang Chan killed my sister.”  
“He did what he had to do to keep the rest of us safe. Being in a gang in real life is different from the movies. Here, your gang is your family. You’d die for them but most importantly, you’d kill for them.” Seungmin cast a sideways glance at Felix. “Your boss would have done the same”  
Felix didn’t say anything; he kept his face stoic as he stared ahead. Changbins words from that morning echoed in his head ‘if I need to, I kill’.  
“Tell me about what happened.” he said instead, hands playing with his sleeves.  
“Your sister was very strong.” seungmin said softly, “she almost brought our entire operation to the ground. Our gang was appointed to dispose off of one of the top politicians of the country and make it look like an accident. The man was rumoured to be associated with one of the largest slave trade rings in the county. Your sister found out and cornered us.” He smiled. “Chan later told us that she knew him from his school days. He grew up in Jeju as well, you know. I don’t know how she found us or got into our base but she managed to corner Chan without raising a single alarm. She really was a force not to be reckoned with”  
Felix barely registered the wetness on his cheeks. I’m crying he realised dimly, shoulders slumped and small snuffles leaving him.  
Seungmin continued, “She tried to reason with chan. told him to leave when he could and to let the authorities deal with him. You sister had a very – inflexible idea of what was right and what was wrong. She pleaded but Chan didn’t budge. He knew this is what he had to do, not just because of the slave-ring but mostly, for us. The gang was in a bad position. We were losing funds and allies fast and we needed a job that would stabilize us again. We had to get this done.”  
“Chan wasn’t the one who killed her. He wasn’t the one who issued the command either. One of our members found out about her, and in his desperation of making sure nothing went wrong in the job, killed her before Chan found out what was happening.”  
“He was furious”, seungmin shuddered. “I’ve never seen him that angry before. He locked himself in with the other man for a couple of hours and when he left the room, he told us that we had one less person to worry about. Bang Chan prides himself on keeping calm and staying in control. That was the first time any of us saw him lose his cool like that”  
Felix wiped away the tears that were streaming down his face. “You called her a casualty.” He said in a choked voice that he didn’t recognise. “The two of you – in your office.”  
“Ah, that.” Seungmin ran a hand through his hair and continued “Well, ever since after that incident, Chan went from cool to icy. He refused to acknowledge what happened, and any time we speak about it, he pretends like it was just another job. It’s not the best coping mechanism but it’s what he does I guess.”  
Felix didn’t know what to make of all of this. Everything that he heard was spinning around in his head, and every time seungmin shot him a pitying look, he wanted to scream.  
“I’m not telling you this so that you join in on the job.” seungmin continued, “but I’m telling you this because you need to know that we all have our reasons for doing what we do. Not all of us are the bad crooks that movies love to create. You just need to make sure you’re with the right people. A second of pause, and then “Seo Changbin is one of the right people” he said, his voice hesitant. “Him and Chan would be very good friends if they were enemies” He shot Felix a sideways glance “don’t tell either of them I said that”  
Felix laughed at that, but the sound came out too hollow and chocked. Seungmin stopped, and Felix realised they were standing outside an impressive building. It was an office tower, the words ‘bgest ltd’ displayed in big imposing letters in the front.  
“We’re all meeting here tonight. It’s a Meeting of sorts between the three gangs to figure out our next step. You don’t need to come in, but if you do, no one’s going to ask any questions. Come straight to the 5th floor. We’ll be there.”  
And with that, seungmin turned around and walked into the building, his footsteps fading.  
Felix took a deep breath and looked up at the building. He ignored how his heart was beating fast and his hands were shaking. He closed his eyes and listened to the sounds of the city, the cars rumbling past, the people chattering loudly into their phones, and when he opened his eyes, he was calm. He wiped away the half-dried tears on his cheeks and walked in, following seungmin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know its been ages since I updated and I'm so sorry about that. Lately, there have been a lot of things dragging me down and school has been driving me crazy. Steel and Fire is a p intense book to write as well so I've been procrastinating writing this chapter for ages. But I kept coming back to ao3 to more comments from yall asking for updates and I didn't want to disappoint you guys. I hope this made up for the wait. ill probably not be updating frequently but I'm still gonna keep working on this and getting new chapters out whenever i can.  
> I have a couple of one-shots up so go check those up while you wait for the next chapter :)))  
> thank you all for your support. it means a lot to me that so many people like what I put out.  
> find me on Tumblr @stanstraykidz


	11. Chapter 11 - Changbin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me actually updatig fast ?? never thought id see the day lmao. I thought I should make up for the HUGE waiting period yall had for ch10 :)). hope you guys like it .

Chapter 11  
Changbin  
Changbin drums his fingers on the long table he was sitting at. All around him sat some of the most influential names in the mafia. He ignored the low buzz of people talking to each other and sat, waiting for everyone to arrive  
Kim Seungmin walked in and took a seat next to Woojin, whispering something as he sat. Woojins face, though still grave, warmed slightly at seungmins words and he shot him a curt nod.  
Changbin opened his mouth to suggest started the damned meeting now that everyone was here. But then the door opened, and Felix walked in, his back straight and head held high, Changbin forgot what he had to say, and the sounds around him faded to white noise when Felix plopped down in the seat next to him looking like he belonged there  
Which he did, oh god  
Changbin was suddenly hyper aware of the other man’s presence. ‘Did I brush my hair?’ he wondered frantically struggling to keep his face expressionless Felix turned slightly and shot him a small smile, and Changbin felt his breath hitch.  
“Now then,” Woojin said, and Changbin had to make a serious effort to tear his eyes away from Felix, and turned to face Woojin, who had a light twinkle in his eyes. “Shall we begin?”  
The noise stopped and members of each gang gravitated towards their bosses. Hyunjin sat down on Changbin’s other side, Yoongi taking a seat next to him. Chan, surrounded by Bambam, Woojin and Seungmin, turned away from a subordinate he was talking to and sat back in his chair. Jisung looked up from where he was sitting, flanked by Lee Chan on one side and a new member named Jeongin on his other side.  
Chan spoke first, surveying everyone in the room. “You all know why we’re here.” he said. He spoke quietly, but the room was so silent that his voice reached everyone, and Changbin couldn’t help but respect him in that moment (not that he’d ever admit it). “Eddy Kim thought he could get away with messing with us, and we need to teach him and his little gang a lesson.”  
“What are we going to do?” Jisung asked. “Arrange a raid? Dispose off of him quietly?”  
Chan huffed a laugh and Jisung flinched, “That’s too simple.” Chan replied  
“We aren’t going to take his more, or his life.” Changbin said from where he was sitting, and all eyes snapped towards him. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips, and he felt a rush of adrenaline. “We’re going to take something much more important to him – his reputation. Take his territory, his allies and his reputation until he’s squabbling for scraps of power.”  
“Clean and effective.” Chan mused, “it’ll defiantly set an example for the other gangs.” and then Chan grinned at Changbin and he grinned back, identical smiles that made most people in the room shrink further in their chairs.  
“Don’t forget that we also need to get back what's ours.” Jisung said, “We spent too much lot of effort in stealing the millennium diamond to let it slip through our fingers like this.”  
“And the painting that was stolen from us.” Wooin piped up and chan nodded.  
“Can you take care of that?” chan asked, looking at Jisung. “Locate where they are and keep eyes on it at all times?”  
Jisung nodded. “we’ll get it done,” he said, pulling out his phone and sending a few quick texts.  
“How do we know it hasn’t already been sold?” Hyunjin asked  
“Koreas black market isn’t big enough to absorb such expensive items this fast. Besides, we would have heard about it if it had been” Chan replied, pushing his fringe out of his eyes  
“We’ll take care of his current projects. Intercepting their deals and projects to make sure they don’t get any additional revenue.” Changbin said, leaning back in his chair.  
“Their reputation will be in shreds by the end of the month if you follow through with that.” chan replied, “And it’ll take a lot of work.”  
“What? Do you think we can’t handle it?” Changbin asked, eyebrow rising.  
The room was thick with tension until Chan shrugged. “Wasn’t implying anything like that”, he replied. “Anyways”, he continued, “we can handle their allies. Small gangs only really care about their survival. If we can guarantee that to them, they’ll do anything for us.”  
“All three of us should also start closing in around their territory, slowly chipping away at their terrain.” Jisung said, trying to break through the tense atmosphere of the room.  
Chan shot him a nod. “I’ll also dispense some men to drop small rumours among the gangs about Eddy Kim and his gang. Not enough to do anything serious, but enough to make other gangs apprehensive of doing any further business”  
Changbin almost smiled as the talks continue, the gangs debating ideas and volunteering details. He loved this, the thrum of planning out a job, the satisfaction of seeing it followed out well. Before he knew it, the meeting was over and the gangs were dispersing, Changbin barking orders into his phone.  
The cold air of Seoul grounded him when he stepped out, and he turned towards Yoongi  
“Get in touch with his regular clients. Let them know that we can offer them a much better deal.” He levelled the other man with a meaningful gaze. “Use whatever means necessary to make sure they never have to approach him again”  
Yoongi grinned and with a quick ‘yes boss’ turned to go on his way, humming lightly. Changbin almost chuckled at the sight, trusting his second in command to handle this.  
He then turned towards Hyunjin, “take some men with you, and keep eyes on eddy kims base and his territory at all times. If anyone leaves to conduct a transaction at any time, make sure they’re never able to follow through with it. Use our contacts in the police force if needed.” Hyunjin didn’t even hesitate before shooting him a quick nod and turning to the group of people before him.  
Before he could continue, he saw Felix lounging around next to the door of the office building, as if hesitating about what to do next. Changbin shot a couple of quick orders to the members that still didn't have anything to do, and then made his way towards Felix  
“How did you know we’d be meeting up here tonight?” Changbin asked, causing Felix to jump.  
The younger boy shot him a sly smile “I have my sources” he replied and Changbin let out a laugh, instantly relaxed.  
“I’m glad you’re here.” he said softly, and watched as Felix squirmed under his gaze. “What are you doing here though? I thought”, he swallowed before continuing, “I thought you wanted nothing to do with me anymore.”  
“I’m not going anywhere just yet” Felix replied pushing away from the wall, “a lot happened today that convinced me to stay for a bit”  
“Oh yeah?” Changbin asked, falling into step beside Felix. The two of them started walking in the direction of Felix’s house.  
The younger boy hummed and dug his hands in his pockets, “ill tell you about it when we go back to my place.”  
“Who says ill be going back to your place?” Changbin teased, “I have a lot of work to do, you know?”  
Felix shot him a glarre that had Changbin almost double over in laughter. “Are you trying to be intimidating?” changbin teased. “How cute.”  
Felix huffed, looking away to hide the blush rising on his cheeks. “Shut up.” he muttered, face almost covered by the high collar on his jacket  
“How was your first mafia meeting?” Changbin asked, a smile still on his lips, linking an arm through Felix’s, ignoring the bubbly feeling that rose in his chest every time he was with the other boy. He never allowed himself to be this vulnerable before, too scared of its implications. But with Felix, he wanted to spend as much time as possible with him, and as terrifying as that through was, it was also liberating.  
After a moment’s hesitation, Felix pulled his hand out of his pocket and grabbed Changbin’s hand to catch it properly. The two didn’t look at each other, but Changbin drew circles on the soft skin of Felix’s hand, and felt a blush rise of his cheeks at the small sigh of happiness that Felix let out.  
“It was pretty fun, to be honest.” felix replied. “I didn’t know you could be that intense. You were like a whole different person in there”  
Changbin grinned down at him and the two of them walked down the street, hand in hand, discussing the events of the day.  
\--  
Around two hours later, when the two of them were cuddling sitting cosily on Felix’s sofa, Changbin got a text.  
Hyunjin: I hope you and Felix made up about whatever you’ve been fighting about. You’ve been a grumpy man all day because of it  
Changbin scowled at his phone, before typing out a quick reply  
Changbin : you do realise that you’re talking to your boss, right?  
Hyunjins reply came fast  
Hyunjin: that’s why I’m texting this to you and not telling you irl  
Changbin almost smiled at that  
Changbin: brat. Don’t you have some work to do right now?  
Hyunjin: Yes sir. Xd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I miss writing changbin and Felix being all soft together again. i feel like we've had too much angst lately smh  
> Also, Eddy Kim im so sorry i love you loads. I'm not really sure why I selected you to be the villain smh.  
> don't forget to tell me what you guys thought. I love reading your comments, they really make my day and encourage me to keep writing.  
> Stream 'i am you' !!!! what's your favourite song from the album ?? Mine is a tie between get cool and my side.


	12. Chapter 12 - felix

FELIX  
The next day was one of Felix’s busiest shifts in the police force. Changbin’s men were working well, reporting any scene that they couldn’t directly infiltrate to the police under the guise of an anonymous tip, the calls made on burner phones and untraceable numbers. Eddy Kim and his men might have been working hard, but Felix and the police force were working harder. Even Minho showed up to a couple of scenes, and the rest of the force had stepped back and let their feared senior handle it. Felix barely had time to sit in his desk, running in and out of the station at a moment’s notice  
Changbin had warned him that this might happen; that Eddy Kim would be working towards building up his cash and capital reserve, as well as trying to win over new allies to make this crazy plan of his work. That would make him accept any transaction that came his way, Changbin had explained in the early hours of one in the morning, his fingers carelessly running through Felix’s hair. They had stayed up till around three, after which Changbin had insisted Felix get some sleep.  
“You’ll have a long day tomorrow.” he had promised, pressing a kiss on Felix’s forehead that made the younger man’s heart flutter with happiness. “You’ll need all the rest you can get.”  
By the end of the day, the lock up in the station was packed with muggers, drug dealers and other crooks staring at them with hatred from behind the bars, muttering angrily amongst themselves.  
Felix was exhausted, looking forward to going to bed, but his desk was loaded with the paperwork that had piled up throughout the day, each additional arrest adding another stack on his table. They sat on his table mocking, forcing him to forget any hope he had had about getting a proper nights rest that night. He’d rather finish them now than let it all pile up for the next day, a mistake he had made several times already.  
Halfway through the stack, he realised he was the only one in the station ‘Of course I am.’ Felix thought bitterly, writing another line about Arrest #13 who was caught red-handed with a bag of weed in his hand, ‘I’m always the last one in this goddam station.’  
He vaguely remembered waving away a few officers who asked him when he was going home, and ignoring Jeongin and Seungmin's cheery goodbye when they had left, but still! Was no one else worried about their unfinished paperwork and reports?  
‘I hope they suffer tomorrow.’ he thought, getting up to go grab a coffee when he heard a quiet sound coming from behind him – footsteps.  
His fingers moved towards his holster, trying to control his breathing. It could just be one of the officers who came back because they forgot something he thought, but why were they being so quiet?  
In one smooth movement, he turned around, gun pointed straight at the intruder's chest.  
Changbin cocked his head when he saw the gun aimed at him. “I thought we were past the gun pointing stage.” he said casually, completely ignoring the gun and walking in and looking around curiously  
Felix glared at Changbin and carefully put it back in his holster. “You gave me a heart attack you idiot.” He grumbled. What are you doing here?”  
“Making sure my idiot boyfriend isn’t overworking himself.” Changbin replied, peering into Felix’s cubicle. He raised an eyebrow at the stuffed plushie that sat next to his computer monitor. “Cute.” he said, a smile on his face  
“Do you realise that you – one of Seoul’s most wanted men – just walked into the police station? The place where people like you are arrested and locked up?”  
“Hey now,” Changbin teased, walking over to Felix “I know I’m on a couple of wanted lists and I’m banned from entering a few countries but I doubt I’ve reached the ‘Seoul’s most wanted’ level.” He paused and flashed Felix a grin. “Yet” he finished, looking satisfied and Felix couldn’t help but scoff at how much of a drama queen his boyfriend was  
Referring to Changbin as his boyfriend still felt strange, but Felix realised that it was something he could get used to.  
“Come on,” Changbin said, motioning towards the door. “It’s almost 12 already. Ill drive you home.”  
\--  
A comfortable silence settled between the two in the car. Changbin driving and Felix staring out if the window with his head against the window.  
There was barely any traffic in this late hour and yet Changbin drove slowly, as though he had all the time in the world. The fluorescent streetlights cast harsh lights on the car, but Felix had always liked the night-time better than the day. Everything was muted and softer, and even though it got lonely sometimes, Felix had long since made friends with the moon and the stars, mapping out constellations and fantasising about a hand clasped around his.  
Now, he looked down to where his and Changbin’s hands were interlinked and realised that he didn’t have to dream anymore.  
Felix’s musings were interrupted when Changbin spoke.  
“Are you sure you want to be a part of this” he asked, eyes still on the road but his fingers tightening slightly around Felix’s. “I don’t want to drag you into this life. Especially if you don't want to be in it.”  
“If I said no,” Felix replied, tearing his eyes away from their hands, and looking at Changbin. “If I asked you to drop all of this, would you ?”  
A beat of silence passes. “I don’t know”, Changbin replied carefully, “Are you asking me to stop?”  
Felix hummed. “I’m sure I want to be a part of this” he said in reply to Changbin’s earlier question. “And it’s not because of you,” he continued when the other man opened his mouth to say something. “Not entirely.”  
His mind flashed back to what Seungmin had said. Everyone has a reason. And maybe a large reason for Felix wanting to stay was the raven-haired boy beside him, and their interlocked hands. The boy who used lame puns to try and console him, and never let Felix apologize for wetting his shirt with tears. The boy who kissed passionately and fought bravely and always came back for him.  
Changbin was a huge reason for Felix being here, but Felix realised that the more he learnt about all of this, the more he was attracted to it. The meeting between the two gangs was a huge eye opener into this world and Felix couldn’t help but love how fierce and passionate everything was.  
‘Remember your limits’ Sungmin had told him that night, the wind blowing through their hair, and Felix agreed. He wasn’t going to lose himself to this, and he wasn’t going to do anything that he didn’t want to. He was still Lee Felix; the boy who hailed from a small town in Jeju and drank his coffee with way too much sugar and watched Peter rabbit whenever he felt overwhelmed.  
He looked back at their interlinked hands. “I’m here because I want to be.” he whispered as though it was a secret. He was sitting in a car holding hands with the head of one of the biggest gangs in Seoul, and Felix realised that he really wouldn’t have it any other way.  
A second later, Changbin was pulling up in the side of the road, a curse on his lips as he unbuckled his belt and leant over to press their lips together.  
Felix smiled into the kiss and moved until he was at the edge of his seat, as close to Changbin as he could be with the gear in between them. And then Changbin was pulling away, and Felix was climbing over the gear to straddle him and they were kissing again, Changbin’s hands in his hair, slipping under his shirt, touching any part of Felix that he could. Felix gasped when one of Changbin hands ran over a nipple, and Changbin slid his tongue in, deepening the kiss, only pulling away to take Felix’s shirt off completely and peppering light kisses along Felix's neck, fingers sprawled over Felix’s back to hold him steady.  
Felix pulled away, his forehead resting against Changbin’s, both of them breathing heavily. .”Do you wanna-“ he started and then licked his lips. “Shall we go back to your place?” Felix asked, fingers still gripping Changbin’s shoulders. They had been to Felixs apartment many times, but Felix had been entertaining the thought of seeing Changbin’s house for a while now.  
“God, you’re perfect” Changbin muttered, and Felix let out a laugh. Changbin chased the sound away with a kiss. And then another one. Short, sweet kisses pressed to his lips, the corners of his lips, his cheeks.  
There was nowhere else Felix would have rather been at that moment.  
And later, when they pulled into Changbin’s large mansion of a house, Felix laughed at Hyunjins horrified face when Changbin pulled him into his room and closed the door behind him, not bothering to switch on the lights before pulling Felix in for another kiss.  
They didn’t do anything that night, Changbin’s hands pausing at Felix’s belt when Felix shyly admitted that he was a virgin. He had always worked too hard to allow himself any romantic interest, he said, face heating up in embarrassment. But Changbin had pulled away and pressed a reassuring kiss to the top of his head. “Whenever you’re ready” he had muttered against Felix's forehead.  
They spent the rest of the night curled up next to each other, and when Felix was drifting off to sleep, he heard Changbin mutter something that sounded like ‘I think I’m falling in love with you’. But his sleep addled brain forgot about the words almost as soon as they were whispered, and he fell into a deep sleep, feeling warm and safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, don't forget to tell me what you all thought !! Reading your comments is the most rewarding parts about beig a content creator.  
> Hope you all liked itt  
> find me on tumble @stanstraykidz


	13. Chapter 13 - Changbin

CHANGBIN  
Changbin woke up the next morning to a fast asleep Felix wrapped up around him and a heart that felt like it was going to burst with happiness.  
’This is the closest thing to heaven that I’m going to experience’, Changbin though, looking at the boy curled up next to him. He recalled the events of last night, of Felix’s deep, serious voice telling him that he was here because he wanted to be, the feel of Felix’s lips pressed against his, their hands exploring each other’s bodies. And the way Felix held him close that night, as though Changbin was going to disappear any second. ‘I’m not going anywhere’ Changbin had thought, his grip on Felix’s waist tightening, ‘I promise.’  
And then came the revelation. The shocking knowledge that maybe this – this closeness and happiness - was love. A concept the Changbin had never experienced before in his entire life, had never thought that he would have the luxury to ever enjoy.  
Love was supposed to be soft – it was meant to be cute dates, and gentle woo-ing. And Changbin was not soft - he was hard edges and harsh tones and orders that had to be obeyed. There was no place for softness in his life, not with his lifestyle and his profession. But when he looked at Felix, felt the rise and fall of his chest, saw how the morning rays illuminated the golden in Felix’s hair and the freckled sprayed across his face, he realised that he would fight every gang in Seoul singly handed to make sure he never lost him. Gently, he brushed Felix’s hair out of his face, and felt himself smile at how the other man scrunched up his nose and shifted closer to him.  
I love you, Changbin thought, and swallowed up the panic that rose in his chest. Instead, he wrapped an arm around Felix and burrowed his face in his hair. ‘This feeling’, Changbin thought, ‘is not something I deserve. But I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts. I want this to last.’  
\----  
After a quiet breakfast with Felix in his room, Felix left to go back to his place to get ready for work. Changbin watched sullenly as he dressed to leave, insisting that Changbin didn’t need to drop him back home.  
“Are you pouting?” Felix had asked, amusement lacing his words.  
“Shut up” Changbin replied, his lower lip jutting out slightly, causing the other boy to erupt in giggles. 

An unproductive morning of trying to get some work done passed by and Changbin walked into the meeting room that evening for a meeting with his inner circle. His men went silent when he walked in, but they were smirking, their eyes crinkling at the ends. Changbin tried to glower at them, but the effect was lost when Hyunjin let out a laugh  
“What’s up boss?” he asked, “couldn’t sleep well last night?”  
Yoongi let out a snort and Changbin resisted the urge to roll his eyes. A group of fully grown, professional killers, drug dealers, and fighters were grinning at each other like middle graders. Changbin was comparatively more lenient with those in his inner circle. This, paired with the fact that Changbin had never let anyone spend the night at his place, hell, had never even brought someone to the gang house, turned some of the most brutal men in Korea to giggly, blushy schoolgirls it seems.  
“If you don’t stop talking, you won’t be able to do more than just sleep for a long time.” Changbin remarked dryly, hiding his amusement at the situation. He took a seat at the head of the table, just as he always did, and took a moment to compose himself.  
“Right”, he said, clearing his throat. But when he looked up to face his gang members, they were all still grinning that stupid, knowing grin. Changbin lifted his eyebrow, and some of the newer members looked away, but most of the gang just let out a hushed laugh.  
“Our main order of business is the Eddy Kim situation.” Changbin said, his voice loud enough to grab everyone’s attention, “Yoongi, what do you have to report?”  
“Well”, Yoongi said, a teasing glint in his eyes, “I have it from very reliable sources that Seo Changbin had a pretty boy over in his room last night. Rumours are going around about whether this is the same boy he has been pining over for some months now”.  
“I never pined after him.” Changbin spluttered, much to the delight of his members  
“I have it from sources that you did though.” Yoongi continued  
“Your sources can go fuck themselves.” Changbin muttered, picking up a paper and pretending to read something, feigning indifference.  
Hyunjin opened his mouth, no doubt ready with some kind of lewd joke after Changbin’s statement. “Don’t say anything.” Changbin said, still not looking up from the papers and Hyunjin shut his mouth promptly, a satisfied smile on his face  
“Seriously though,” Changbin asked, turning to look at Yoongi, putting his papers down and leaning back on his chair, “how have things been on your end?”  
Yoongi let out an exaggerated sigh, the mood still playful. But then Changbin fixed him with a dark stare and he straightened up almost immediately, the atmosphere becoming more serious.  
“We haven’t let Eddy Kim intercept any deals or agreements, though it seems like he’s tried setting up something with almost every small gang out there. Nothing too noticeable though. he was very smart in how he was planning things. He’d order small amounts of arms from several organisations, rather than depending on one big producer. He met up with people to put forward the idea of an alliance, but that deal never went through. That might have had something to do with me discreetly letting them that they would find the streets of Seoul would be a very difficult pace to live in if they agreed to it.”  
Yoongi grinned after finishing, a dark and bloodthirsty smile that made Changbin want to turn away. Yoongi was his second in command, his most loyal subordinate and his oldest friend. But when Yoongi smiled like that, Changbin was glad that they were on the same side. Yoongi never smiled like that unless he had fulfilled a dirty, bloody job and enjoyed it.  
He shot Yoongi and appreciative nod. “Good job.”  
“What about you?”, he asked, turning to Hyunjin  
“Nothing unusual.” Hyunjin replied. “He’s been meeting up with his men, trying to form alliances like Yoongi said, but mostly Eddy Kim has been sitting in the pub on 23rd street, probably drinking himself to death. He goes back to his safe house at night, drunk and disoriented. We’ve managed to locate most of his safe houses and meeting spots without getting caught.”  
Changbin couldn’t help but smile, a deep sense of satisfaction creeping through. “I’ll call Chan and jisung later, and find out how they’re doing. For now though, I have something important to get to.”  
Ignoring all the raised brows and barely concealed smirks, he walked through the doors that led out of the large meeting room with as much dignity as he could muster. He heard a muffled whistle erupt behind him, before the room exploded into laughter and bustle. Changbin smiled to himself, shaking his head.  
‘Children, the whole lot of them.’ he thought to himself. He pulled out his phone, checking his phone, yet again , only to find no reply from Felix, even though he had texted the other boy around an hour ago.  
‘This is going to be the death of me’, Changbin groaned. He was a professional, a gang lord with years of experience. And here he was pining after his boyfriend like a lovesick middle grade boy. Yoongi was right after all.  
He huffed, sending another text asking Felix to text him soon, and tried to busy himself with some work in his office.  
He sat down and stared at the papers of potential deals and tax audits, but before he could touch them, his phone rang.  
“Changbin here” he said monotonously into the phone.  
“Is Felix with you ?” The voice from the other end of the line said. Its Chan, he realised dimly, and then shook himself awake. Why was Chan asking about Felix?  
“No he isn’t”, Changbin replied carefully, “I haven’t seen him since he left for work this morning.”  
Chan cursed, causing Changbin to blink, “what’s this about?” Changbin demanded  
“Changbin...” Chan paused, his voice growing soft. “Felix didn’t show up for work today”  
Changbin felt panic rise up inside him, but he suppressed it. “How can you be sure?” he asked, trying to stay grounded  
“Seungmin, one of my men inside the force, reported that Felix didn’t show up for work. He said he went to check up on him in his place, but found it empty and cold, like Felix hadn’t been there for a while.”  
“He was at my place last night”, Changbin replied, guilt weighing him down. “He left directly from here this morning to go to work and I just let him, god.” Changbin gripped his hair, breaths coming out heavily.  
“Changbin, snap out of it. You’re not going to get anywhere by panicking. I need you to focus.”  
Changbin took a few calming breaths, gripping the edge of his table tight. “Alright,” he said, focusing on his breathing, “what exactly happened?”  
“We think that Eddy Kim has him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its been a while uff and I'm sorry about that. schools been driving me crazy but i manged to get this out anyways  
> The next update may take a month or so cause i have my finals coming up. But after that, ill be free till uni starts (im graduating !!!!! hopefully lmao) and I have so many plans for different aus that I wanna post so stay tuned. 
> 
> as always, don't forget to tell me what you thought! your comments make my day. i hope this chapter makes up for the wait, and im sorry for the cliffhanger at the end xd


	14. Chapter 14 - Felix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> chapter warning : some blood and gore. descriptions of violence

Felix opened his eyes and stared at the dusty, unlabeled boxes stacked against the wall.

It was the same sight he saw whenever he opened his eyes. Five neatly stacked dull brown boxes, against the dark wall of the warehouse he was being held in.

He didn’t know how long he had been in here, probably for a day or two – maybe more. There were no windows in the warehouse, no clocks. The only thing he had to look at were the boxes and the table full of wicked looking torture instruments, no doubt kept there to scare him into talking.

The only human contact he had had was Bernie – a short, cruel looking man with a wart under his eye, who came to give him his meals. Dry oatmeal and a glass of water.

Felix was thankful that he was getting anything to eat at all.

His mind wandered to Changbin. He wondered whether the other boy even knew that he was missing. And whether he would ever care.

The door to the warehouse opened, and sunlight flooded the room. He winced against the bright light, his eyes to tuned to the darkness that surrounded him since he got here.

He blinked rapidly, trying to adjust, and then there was a figure right in front of him.

Eddy Kim.

_That bastard._

He was smiling, pearly white teeth on display and Felix wanted to break his face and ruin his perfectly straight teeth. He felt rage bubble up inside him, but pressed it down, suppressing it until he only felt indifference.  

“I should have known it was you.” Felix said, trying to keep his tone levelled, but Eddy Kim seemed to smile ever wider.

He hummed happily, “It was clever of me, wasn’t it? I didn’t want it to come to this, but when your gang, Han Jisung and Bang Chan teamed up together and tried to take over my territory, I had to clap back.” his face contorted in anger, “Those bastards made me the laughing stock of the mafia, taking my jobs, delaying my receipts and even stealing my land.” He smiled again, menacing and bitter.  “But not for long. Soon, I’ll show them who the real kings are.”

Felix barked out a laugh, “you’re not a king; you’re just a wannabe duke. They are always going to be so much better than you, because in the end of the day, you were never meant to rule.” Felix thought about how the three gave orders to their members, the trust he saw in Hyunjins eyes whenever Changbin told him to do something.  “Not like them.”

A second of complete stillness passed, and then Eddy Kim’s fist swung and connected with Felix’s face, his head whipping back at the impact. A dull thud echoed around the room, and Felix felt a sudden jab of pain bloom along the right side of his face.

“Let me make something clear”, Eddy Kim said, his voice dark and powerful, “you’re the one tied up in the chair, and I’m the one who holds the keys to get those chains off of you. So I think that it’s in your best interests to be as nice to me as possible.”

The pain was now a dull throb, but Felix knew that it would get worse once the shock and adrenaline wore off. “What do you want from me?” he asked a lace of rebellion in his voice. “Why the _fuck_ am I here?”

Eddy Kim cooed. “Look at you, all polite all of a sudden. That wasn’t too hard, now was it?” 

“As for why you’re here”, he continued, “I want to know what Changbin and bang Chan are up to.” He tilted his head to the side, “I want to know what they plan to do and why they’re convincing my allies and suppliers to stop dealing with me.”

“And why do you think I would know that?” Felix scoffed, hands curling into wrists. He tried to move, tried to escape the shackles that held him, but the thick steel chairs didn’t give, and a clanking sound filled the empty, silent room.

“I don’t know”, he mused. “Why are you spending so much time around Seo Changbin? Why did you point a gun to my head and take away my gang's victory that day at the dock.” His eyes glowed darker with anger. “We had Changbin right where we wanted him, surrounded and on his knees. And then you came in and played hero. You ruined everything.” he spat.

“Henry hasn’t been able to show his face outside ever since, and left me in charge.” He continued, circling Felix, fingers trailing along the back of the chair. “He’s become the laughing stock of the whole mafia. I’m not going to let you get away with this.” His voice dropped, dark and raspy. “I’m going to destroy you, piece by piece. And then, I’m going to mess up seo Changbin. And then” - he smirked – “I’m going to go after everyone else.”  

Felix shivered at the promise in Eddy’s voice, at the way he seemed like he was making a vow. He wondered how long eddy had spent, plotting things out until it let to this very moment.

“So enjoy your stay”, eddy finished, spreading his arms wide. “Because you aren’t in a place that’s easy to find.” He paused, “I’ll be back later, and maybe you’ll be willing to talk then.”

And with a final smile, eddy Kim turned around and walked away, leaving him in darkness, bound and alone. 

 ------------

 

A day must have passed.

Felix couldn’t tell for sure, but two more trays of food were brought to him in the hours that followed. He was left alone for the rest of the time, left to his own thoughts. The isolation was killing him, making him irritable. He whispered to himself to stay same, mumbling random words to ground himself.

Sometimes, when the silence drove him to irritation, he would scream for help. He’d try to wiggle out of his chains, yell for someone to save him, and shout curses at eddy Kim and Henry lui and every other bastard that kept him there to die.

It was during one such fit that eddy Kim walked into the warehouse once again. His steps were soft and peaceful; a small smile on his face and Felix wanted nothing more than to break his face.

“Your absence has been noticed by the others.” he laughed, “Your friends are trying hard to find you.”  He cocked a brow, amused eyes sparkling. “They really think I’m going to give you off like that, after everything I went through to get you in the first place.”

“They’ll find me”, Felix promises, eyes wild and blown over. “They'll find me and they'll kill you. I know they will.”

Eddy Kim laughed, “You think they care so much about you”, he mused, walking towards Felix. “That’s cute, it really is. Truth is, I’d give you away if they give me what I really want. I’ve given them my demands, but they insist on negotiating instead.” He laughed, “As if I’d let them. The balls in my court now, and they have to learn how to play by my rules.”

“So, riddle me this”, he continued, walking away and picking up a knife from the table of instruments. It was a small, sharp blade, better for incapacitating than for killing. Whatever eddy Kim was going to do next, Felix could tell that it was going to hurt. “Tell me why these gang thugs that you have so much faith in, won’t even give me a few small gifts in exchange for you.” He cocked his head, his tone mocking “Oh _dear_ , maybe you don’t mean as much to them as you thought you did.”

Felix shut his eyes, shaking his head. No no _no_ , he wasn’t going to let eddy Kim get into his head. He didn’t know what he was talking about but Felix didn’t doubt that was eddy Kim asked for was more than just ‘small gifts’. Changbin and the others would get him out of here. They had to

Wouldn’t they?

A fist connected to the side of his face, and Felix groaned in pain, eyes screwing shut even tighter. “It’s rude to turn away when someone’s talking to you”, Eddy Kim hissed to “look at me when I speak to you.”  A rough hand grabbed his chin, nails digging into skin. “Open your eyes while m asking you nicely.”

Slowly, Felix opened his eyes, suddenly tired. His shoulders slumped, and he stared up at eddy Kim with a blank expression.

He was so tired.

“Giving up already?” eddy sneers, and a drop of spit landed on Felix’s cheek. His grip on Felix’s face tightened, and Felix just let him. Let his head hang heady.

“I was looking forward to breaking you slowly”, eddy sighed, letting go of Felix and walking over to the table of torture instruments. He trailed his fingers over them, and glanced back at Felix. “But if you’re ready to talk now, then maybe we won’t need to use any of these hmm?”

He kept the knife in his hand, walked up to where Felix was sitting, leaving the other instruments behind him.

“Let’s talk shall we?” he asked, walking around Felix’s chair. “What are Changbin and bang Chan up to?”

“They want to destroy you.” Felix replied, head still hung low.

“How?” eddy countered, “what exactly are they planning?”

Memories flashed through his head. Changbin, Chan and Jisung conspiring in the building, the power and control he felt in that room. His conversation with Seungmin, the night breeze wavering between them

Then, other memories came to mind. Changbin cleaning up his wounds after the incident at the dock.  Jeongin petting every cat that he saw while he was out patrolling, taking selfies with them to show them off to the squad later when he came back. Seungmin treating Felix out for dinner after a particularly hard day. Minho checking in on him to make sure he wasn’t overworking himself, swooping in to take the difficult and bloody work instead of making Felix do it himself.  Yoongis stunned face when he walked into the mansion hand in hand with Changbin. He remembered the way Hyunjin and Yoongi would tease Changbin, with easy smile and warmth in their eyes. The way Chan would soften when his gaze fell on Woojin, only to see the other boy smiling back.

He gained strength from them, from the memories that flashed through his mind. He raised his head, not quite staring eddy Kim in the eyes, but not looking down either. Not backing away

‘I can’t let anything happen to them’, Felix though fiercely. ‘I won’t.’

Eddy sighed, “Ahh I was really hoping I could get out of this without having to dirty up my suit. Now, let’s go over this again.” he said, and the Felix felt the blade of the knife of his face, its sharp edges ready to slice. “What do bang Chan and seo Changbin have planned?”

“Fuck you.” Felix spat, and Eddy Kim smiled and slices the gentle skin on Felix’s cheekbone, leaving a trail of dark blood in its wake.

“That was a light slice”, eddy skim said, “Pulling back to appreciate his work. I’m not going to be so kind the next time.”

A trickle of blood trailed down his face, and the coppery tang of blood surrounded him. He clamped his mouth to keep from throwing up, swallowing the bile that threatened to rise

“You’re never going to be as good as them”, Felix breathed. “You may think that you’re ahead in this little game of yours, but they will catch up. You are going to lose”, he vowed. “I’m in going to be alive to see that happen.”

“Brave words from a man who’s tied up, with multiple bruises and cuts on his face.” eddy Kim mused. “Why don’t we cut to the chase? Tell me what’s happened or ill use this pretty little blade to spit your pretty little face apart”

Felix grit his teeth, and then smiled, low and cruel. “Is that how you used to compliment Henry lui? No wonder he left you and the rest of the gang, I’d hate to spend time with you as well.”

Eddy Kim cursed, anger flashing in his eyes, and struck him on the side of his face, fists curled around the blunt head of the knife. The impact had Felix flinching, his head thrown back and a groan forcing its way out of his mouth. He could already feel the swelling in the area, and prayed that the blow wasn’t hard enough for any permanent brain damage. There was a faint ringing in his ears, but Felix forced himself to keep his eyes open.

“I think you need to keep your mouth shut, unless you have something useful to say to Me.” eddy Kim hissed, forcing Felix to look at him. Felix winced at the death grip that Eddy had on his hair, the ringing in his ears increasing slightly. He shook his head to try and get free, but eddy’s held on tighter, bringing his fist down against Felix’s face again, along his cheek this time.

Stinging pain erupted in the area and Felix had to blink the tears out of his eyes. 

“I’m not going to ask you again”, Eddy Kim jeered. “Tell me what you know.”

Felix swallowed. It was going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im back and im here a lot sooner that i thought i would be omg 
> 
> you all left so many nice comments on my last chapter that i just HAD to get another ch out for yall. a big thank you to everyone who commented uwu. dont forget to let me know what you all thought of this one !!!   
> Also, did yall notice that we're getting really close to the end of Steel and Fire. ive finally put up the chapter count thing, and we only have 4 more chapters to go :( . its been a wild ride, and im eternally thankful for the people who've read, commented and enjoyed my work. I may add in a chapter, depending on how the story maps out irl, but most probably i won't.   
> Also, i mean no hard to Eddy Kim. i have no idea why i chose his name as the "villain" for this but tbh i love the guy. 
> 
> Find me on tumblr @stanstraykidz  
> Find me on twitter @bi-zee-way


End file.
